Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has ridiculed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision to postpone her visit to disaster-affected North Bengal for attending Durga idol carnival in Kolkata on Sunday. Mamata Banerjee is slated to visit disaster-affected North Bengal on Monday afternoon.

The opposition sharply criticised the state’s decision to go ahead with the glittering procession in Kolkata despite the calamity in the north, accusing the government of prioritising festival over devastation.

“For her, the carnival comes first, emergency later. It is shocking that she avoided visiting Darjeeling only to attend a carnival. Was it necessary amid such devastation?” the BJP leader said.

“Another glaring example of the neglect and stepmotherly treatment towards the people of North Bengal by the government of the Honorable Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee! Due to devastating floods and landslides in North Bengal, at least 50,000 people from Cooch Behar to Kalimpong have become homeless. They are spending their days in fear and anxiety on the embankments with their livestock, with no end to their suffering due to the lack of food and water. But in the eyes of this government’s administration, the people of North Bengal have no value. Therefore, carnivals take precedence during times of disaster,” Adhikari wrote in Bangla on social media platform X.

মাননীয়া মুখ্যমন্ত্রী মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়ের সরকারের উত্তরবঙ্গের মানুষের প্রতি অবহেলার ও বিমাতৃসুলভ আচরণের আরেকটা জ্বলন্ত উদাহরণ !

উত্তরবঙ্গে ভয়াবহ বন্যা ও ধসের কারণে কোচবিহার থেকে কালিম্পং পর্যন্ত অন্তত ৫০ হাজার মানুষ আশ্রয়হীন হয়ে পড়েছেন। তারা বাঁধের ওপর গবাদি পশু নিয়ে… https://t.co/U1YRCXkdXs

— Suvendu Adhikari (@SuvenduWB) October 5, 2025

North Bengal landslides and flash floods

Following the recent torrential rainfall in October 2025, North Bengal experienced severe flash floods and landslides, resulting in significant loss of life, destroyed infrastructure, and stranded tourists.

Heavy, prolonged overnight rain triggered flash floods and multiple landslides across the districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, and Alipurduar. At least 24 people were reported killed, with dozens missing. The hill station of Mirik was particularly hard-hit, accounting for most of the fatalities.

Thousands of people across the region have been affected. Key road networks, including National Highway 10 connecting Sikkim and Kalimpong, were blocked by debris, and major bridges like the Dudhia Iron Bridge collapsed. This isolated towns and stranded tourists. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indian Army, and state agencies launched rescue and relief operations to evacuate stranded individuals and reach affected areas.

In Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri, a vigorous southwest monsoon joined forces with a cyclonic air circulation to unleash extremely heavy rainfall since Saturday night, triggering widespread landslides and flash floods. Some areas, such as Kurti in Jalpaiguri, recorded more than 370mm rainfall. Seething rivers flooded towns, villages, tea gardens and reserve forests, and swept away houses, bridges and roads.

What is Carnival?

The carnival is an annual event started by the Mamata Banerjee govt in 2016 in which immersion-bound idols of Goddess Durga from community Pujas across Calcutta are showcased in a procession. It is held after Dashami/Dusshera every year, where award-winning idols are not immersed on that day and kept for display at the procession at Kolkata’s Red Road.

Would look bad if I did not attend carnival: CM

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee attended the state-sponsored Durga idol carnival in Kolkata on Sunday. The chief minister’s attendance at the carnival while ignoring disaster-affected North Bengal, where rain and landslides have claimed at least 23 lives, has sparked a controversy.

Defending her decision to attend the carnival, CM Mamata Banerjee said, “Since the Carnival was arranged with about 100 puja committees, it would look bad if I didn’t attend. We have taken all necessary measures for the affected people, and instructions have been communicated.”

However, the CM stated that she will be visiting the affected areas on Monday. “I, along with the chief secretary, will reach the affected areas by 3pm on Monday,” she said.

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