NEW DELHI: Ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections in Bengal, the “mishandling” of the Covid-19 crisis in the state has dented the image of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee among her electorate in West Bengal.
Residents of West Bengal have questioned the lack of transparency by the state government in providing Covid-19 data to the public, apart from highlighting the possible “scam” in the public distribution of rations in the state at a time when thousands of daily wage labourers have lost their source of income. A resident of Nadia district, who did not wish to be identified for fear of being persecuted by the state government, told The Sunday Guardian, “When every state is giving out data on Covid-19 in a transparent way, why is the Bengal government trying to hide data? Why is a committee being made to decide on the cause of death for Covid patients? Such a thing is not followed for any other disease. It is no time to do politics, it is a health crisis and if the government here does not want to be transparent, we will all die. How can a Chief Minister be so insensitive in protecting the lives of her own citizens?”
Nalin Mahato, a resident of Jhargram, told this correspondent, “It has been about 10 years that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has come to power. We expected better governance; this government has turned out to be worse than the 34 years of CPM rule. They are even stealing rations from the poor people, how shameful can that be? Mamata Didi says that she has no money, but she has money to give to the clubs in West Bengal who would act as her musclemen, but no money to feed the poor. The people here have a chance to oust her very soon.”
Questions have also been raised against the state government for not fully abiding by the Central government guidelines to implement the lockdown in the state. The Ministry of Home Affairs has sent repeated memos and reminders to the state government to implement the lockdown in accordance with other states.
The Central government has also sent an inter-ministerial team to West Bengal to assess the situation on the ground. The government of Odisha has sealed all its borders with Bengal as the Odisha government has said that many of the cases it is witnessing in their state have a travel history to Kolkata or West Bengal. Protests over non-availability of ration were also witnessed in various localities of Bengal in the last few weeks. North 24 Parganas’ Baduria witnessed a violent clash between police and the locals over non-availability of rations that were to be provided by the state government. Some locals have also alleged that they had not been getting the due amount of ration that they were supposed to get. A daily wage labourer from North 24 Parganas district told The Sunday Guardian, “I have six members in my family and I am the only bread earner. I work as a mistri (construction labourer); with no work we have no money. We are getting just 2 kg of rice; the ration dealer says he does not have adequate stock. Pulses are also not being given. It seems we had made a mistake for the last 10 years by electing a government that does not care for its people. Didi has let us all down.”
The Opposition BJP is also leaving no stones unturned to corner the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, given that elections are just a year ahead and the BJP is hoping to dethrone the TMC government from the state that it has been in power for the last 10 years.
The BJP has taken to social media to highlight the “mis-governance” of the Mamata Banerjee-led Bengal government. The social media handle of the BJP in Bengal, along with all its office bearers, speaks about how the TMC government is “hiding” data related to Covid patients and that the number of deaths related to coronavirus is being under-reported in the state.
The BJP has also been constantly alleging that dead bodies are being burnt or buried in the state in the wee hours of the night, giving a hint that the state government is doing everything to possibly cover up the “mismanagement” it has unleashed related to the Covid-19 crisis.
BJP state president Dilip Ghosh told The Sunday Guardian, “Every day, 10-15 dead bodies are being burned near Dhapa dumping ground in Kolkata. Relatives of these patients are talking about it among themselves. The police are working as an agent of the TMC. The state government under Mamata Banerjee has failed to handle the situation. One after another hospital is being locked down as doctors and paramedics are getting sick. Where will the people of Bengal go? They can’t be left alone to die.”
Dilip Ghosh also spoke about the ration crisis in the state. He said, “The poor people are not getting ration. Only last week, the state government reluctantly accepted some rations being sent by the Central government. Only after the Central government interfered, the state government started acting in enforcing the lockdown. The Chief Minister and the state Chief Secretary are going back and forth in what they are saying. This is a crisis situation in Bengal.”
The BJP last week held a protest from inside homes against the state government, holding placards, asking the state government to be transparent and highlighting the “scam” over rations in Bengal. Dilip Ghosh has also written a letter to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to intervene in the state to save its citizens.
Residents of West Bengal have questioned the lack of transparency by the state government in providing Covid-19 data to the public, apart from highlighting the possible “scam” in the public distribution of rations in the state at a time when thousands of daily wage labourers have lost their source of income. A resident of Nadia district, who did not wish to be identified for fear of being persecuted by the state government, told The Sunday Guardian, “When every state is giving out data on Covid-19 in a transparent way, why is the Bengal government trying to hide data? Why is a committee being made to decide on the cause of death for Covid patients? Such a thing is not followed for any other disease. It is no time to do politics, it is a health crisis and if the government here does not want to be transparent, we will all die. How can a Chief Minister be so insensitive in protecting the lives of her own citizens?”
Nalin Mahato, a resident of Jhargram, told this correspondent, “It has been about 10 years that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has come to power. We expected better governance; this government has turned out to be worse than the 34 years of CPM rule. They are even stealing rations from the poor people, how shameful can that be? Mamata Didi says that she has no money, but she has money to give to the clubs in West Bengal who would act as her musclemen, but no money to feed the poor. The people here have a chance to oust her very soon.”
Questions have also been raised against the state government for not fully abiding by the Central government guidelines to implement the lockdown in the state. The Ministry of Home Affairs has sent repeated memos and reminders to the state government to implement the lockdown in accordance with other states.
The Central government has also sent an inter-ministerial team to West Bengal to assess the situation on the ground. The government of Odisha has sealed all its borders with Bengal as the Odisha government has said that many of the cases it is witnessing in their state have a travel history to Kolkata or West Bengal. Protests over non-availability of ration were also witnessed in various localities of Bengal in the last few weeks. North 24 Parganas’ Baduria witnessed a violent clash between police and the locals over non-availability of rations that were to be provided by the state government. Some locals have also alleged that they had not been getting the due amount of ration that they were supposed to get. A daily wage labourer from North 24 Parganas district told The Sunday Guardian, “I have six members in my family and I am the only bread earner. I work as a mistri (construction labourer); with no work we have no money. We are getting just 2 kg of rice; the ration dealer says he does not have adequate stock. Pulses are also not being given. It seems we had made a mistake for the last 10 years by electing a government that does not care for its people. Didi has let us all down.”
The Opposition BJP is also leaving no stones unturned to corner the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, given that elections are just a year ahead and the BJP is hoping to dethrone the TMC government from the state that it has been in power for the last 10 years.
The BJP has taken to social media to highlight the “mis-governance” of the Mamata Banerjee-led Bengal government. The social media handle of the BJP in Bengal, along with all its office bearers, speaks about how the TMC government is “hiding” data related to Covid patients and that the number of deaths related to coronavirus is being under-reported in the state.
The BJP has also been constantly alleging that dead bodies are being burnt or buried in the state in the wee hours of the night, giving a hint that the state government is doing everything to possibly cover up the “mismanagement” it has unleashed related to the Covid-19 crisis.
BJP state president Dilip Ghosh told The Sunday Guardian, “Every day, 10-15 dead bodies are being burned near Dhapa dumping ground in Kolkata. Relatives of these patients are talking about it among themselves. The police are working as an agent of the TMC. The state government under Mamata Banerjee has failed to handle the situation. One after another hospital is being locked down as doctors and paramedics are getting sick. Where will the people of Bengal go? They can’t be left alone to die.”
Dilip Ghosh also spoke about the ration crisis in the state. He said, “The poor people are not getting ration. Only last week, the state government reluctantly accepted some rations being sent by the Central government. Only after the Central government interfered, the state government started acting in enforcing the lockdown. The Chief Minister and the state Chief Secretary are going back and forth in what they are saying. This is a crisis situation in Bengal.”
The BJP last week held a protest from inside homes against the state government, holding placards, asking the state government to be transparent and highlighting the “scam” over rations in Bengal. Dilip Ghosh has also written a letter to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to intervene in the state to save its citizens.
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