With two incidents of fire at hotels in Kolkata and Tarapith claiming 18 lives over the past three days in West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party government has blamed the previous Trinamool Congress regime for the incidents. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said that the tragedies are “a grim reminder of the legacy of negligence left behind by the previous regime”.

“For years, the City’s & State’s infrastructure was allowed to grow unchecked, with structures being permitted to be built and operated as hotels and other businesses while completely ignoring mandatory fire safety norms,” the Chief Minister said on social media.

Mr. Adhikari said that the previous administration systematically looked the other way, failing to enforce basic compliance audits and allowing these unsafe conditions to fester. He added that the BJP government was working “tirelessly to undo the damage of that era and to enforce the safety standards that should have been in place all along”.

Not only the Chief Minister, but Minister for Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, Agnimitra Paul also blamed the previous regime for the fire. Ms. Paul said that there were over 10 guest houses operating inside the building where fire broke out. She asked how the hotels received trade licence and raised questions as to how the Calcutta Electricity Supply Corporation gave electricity to such places.

The Opposition leaders hit back, saying that time for passing the blame was over for the government as it had crossed 100 days. “It is because the previous government failed on multiple counts there has been a new government. Now that the government has surpassed 100 days, the new government will have to take stringent measures,” Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Ritabrata Banerjee said.

The Opposition Chief Whip, Akhruzamman, of the Mr. Ritabrata-led Trinamool faction, said that while the government was proactive in driving hawkers off the footpath, it was not ordering officials to act where it was most required. “The government will have to take responsibility and cannot blame the previous regime for the fire,” he said.

The Opposition pointed out that the fire at Shika Inn on Mirza Ghalib Street in Kolkata occurred less than 100 metres from the headquarters of the State Fire Department and Kolkata Municipal Corporation. Nine lives were lost in the fire. On August 17, the fire at Hotel Bideshini in the temple town of Tarapith claimed nine lives.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Secretary Md. Salim, while referring to the Kolkata fire, said that people came from Bangladesh for medical treatment and stayed at the hotels “What will we tell the world? Where is our hospitality?” Mr. Salim said. Of the nine people who died in the fire, five have been identified as Bangladeshi nationals.

State Congress president Subhankar Sarkar said, “This government is saying that the previous government did everything wrong and that is why all this is happening. How difficult was it to issue one notice for a fire audit,” the Congress leader asked.

Published - August 19, 2026 11:02 pm IST