BJP and Trinamool Congress Engage in Political Sparring Over Kolkata Rains
The BJP shared photos and videos of waterlogged Kolkata streets on its social media platforms and alleged that the TMC-led Kolkata Municipal Corporation was involved in corruption.
Kolkata:
With vast areas of Kolkata severely waterlogged, daily life disrupted, and at least seven people electrocuted amid a night of relentless heavy rainfall, a political confrontation erupted on social media between the BJP — the state’s main opposition — and the ruling Trinamool Congress.
The BJP shared photos and videos of flooded Kolkata streets on its social media pages, accusing the TMC-led Kolkata Municipal Corporation of corruption. In response, the ruling party criticised the BJP for “weaponising suffering to spread hate.”
“Durga Puja festivities begin this week. Yet, because of Kolkata’s extremely poor drainage system, Puja pandals are submerged. Decades of misrule under the CPI(M) and nearly 15 years of corruption in the TMC-run municipal corporation have forced Bengalis to suffer even during their biggest festival,” read a post on the BJP Bengal unit’s X handle, alongside a video from the heavily flooded Maniktala area in north Kolkata.
Another BJP post, showing inundation near Science City in east Kolkata, linked the flooding to the state’s economic troubles.
“Look at the state of Kolkata around Science City. This is one of the city’s prime areas that houses several organisations. If this is the condition of civic life, how can people think of living sustainably here? How will any organisation be willing to invest? This is the collapse of civic governance,” the post said.
In a strong rebuttal, state Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya accused the BJP of exploiting people’s suffering for political motives.
“Yesterday, Kolkata experienced a rare cloudburst. Nearly 300 mm of rain fell within hours — a scale that overwhelms any city, regardless of its infrastructure. Scientists have said the same about Mumbai in 2005, Chennai in 2015, and Delhi in 2023. No city is spared when the skies open non-stop,” Bhattacharya wrote on X.
“What does the BJP do? They dismiss science, empathy, and climate realities. Their only aim is to weaponise distress and spread hatred. They assume people cannot differentiate between a natural disaster and their propaganda,” she added.
Bengal can, she said. “We know yesterday’s events were nature’s fury. We also know the BJP’s attempt to stir negativity during Durga Puja is calculated — and will fail miserably,” she asserted.
