NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said that one person had died in the state due to Cyclone Dana, while the administration had evacuated around 2.16 lakh people from low-lying areas.
“Only one person died in this natural disaster. The man died at his residence while conducting some cable-related work. It is quite unfortunate. The postmortem examination will give us a clear picture. If required we (state government) will help the family,” Banerjee said addressing a press conference.
“Some districts are affected badly due to cyclone, especially kaccha houses. All DMs, SPs and concerned officials are doing their best. We coordinate with all of them from time to time. 2.16 lakh people evacuated from affected areas to relief camps. I talked to an MLA, he informed me that Kapil Muni Mandir has been affected and faced massive waterlogging. I talked to all MLAs of affected districts,” Mamata added.
After spending the night at the state secretariat to oversee the situation, Mamata held a review meeting and instructed officials to ensure that relief materials are provided to all those affected by the cyclone.
IMD has reported that Cyclone Dana made landfall on the north Odisha coast as a severe cyclonic storm, with wind speeds ranging from 100-110 kmph and gusts up to 120 kmph. The IMD has also issued a warning for isolated extremely heavy rainfall over south Gangetic West Bengal, specifically in the east and west Medinipur regions, today.
“The Severe cyclonic storm “Dana” (pronounced as Dana) crossed north Odisha coast close to Habalikhati Nature Camp (Bhitarkanika) and Dhamara during 0130 hrs IST to 0330 hrs IST of today, 25th October as a Severe cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph,” IMD said in a post on X.
“Isolated extremely heavy rainfall is very likely over coastal Odisha, south Gangetic West Bengal (east & west Medinipur) on 25th October 2024,” IMD added.
“Reports are being compiled from the field by the SOC and shortly we will have the details…The normal services have also been restored. The air services have been restored,” NDRF DIG Mohsen Shahedi told ANI.
Various parts of West Bengal are currently experiencing rainfall as a result of the cyclone.

If the Trinamool Congress government of West Bengal was hoping that the Durga Puja celebrations would dilute the intensity of the ongoing doctors’ agitation and the public outrage over the gruesome rape and murder of an on-duty doctor inside the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH), they were in for a rude shock, as the protesting doctors upped the ante, causing further discomfort to an already cornered state government.

On October 5, as the Durga Puja celebrations were about to begin, six junior doctors went on an indefinite hunger strike, followed by mass resignations of senior doctors from across the State; and the non-political protest movement that the State government was hoping to tide over showed that it was far from getting weaker, even in the midst of the Puja revelry.

On September 21, after 42 days of cease-work, when the junior doctors, the resident doctors, and the interns of government hospitals in West Bengal agreed to a partial resumption of work (attending only emergency and essential services), a wary truce appeared to have been arrived at, with the State government accepting most of the conditions put forward by the agitating doctors. The normally intransigent Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was compelled to remove some of her top police and health administrative officials, including the Kolkata Police Commissioner, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (North), the Director of Medical Education, and the Director of Health Services.

Apart from these, the other demands of the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF), which has been spearheading the protest, included punishment for those responsible for the rape and murder inside R.G. Kar, and also for those who allegedly tampered with the evidence; disciplinary action against the principal of RGKMCH, Sandip Ghosh, who is at present in the custody of the CBI; enhanced security for doctors and healthcare workers; and ending the prevailing “threat culture” in hospitals and medical colleges. Their return to partial service was on the condition that the other demands be met at the soonest.

However, within 10 days after resuming work, the doctors returned to complete cease-work, alleging that the State government made no perceptible effort to meet their demands. An assault on doctors and nurses at the College of Medicine & Sagore Dutta Hospital served as the catalyst for the second cease-work. On October 4, the doctors, after a meeting, called off the strike but gave the State government 24 hours to implement their 10-point charter of demands, failing which, they would go on an indefinite hunger strike.

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On the evening of October 5, doctors Tanaya Panja, Snigdha Hazra, Anustup Mukhopadhyay (of Kolkata Medical College and Hospital), Pulastha Acharya (NRS Medical College and Hospital), Arnab Mukhopadhyay (SSKM), and Sayantani Ghosh Hazra (KPC Medical College) began a fast-unto-death. They were later joined by Aniket Mahato of R.G. Kar. On October 7, the Federation of All India Medical Association also announced a nationwide hunger strike from October 9.

Apart from their main demand, that is, justice for the R.G. Kar victim, the doctors’ other demands include the removal of State Health Secretary N.S. Nigam, and holding the Health Department accountable for the administrative failures and corruption; putting in place a centralised referral system in all hospitals and medical institutions; ensuring that there is a digital system to monitor bed vacancies in every medical college and hospital; setting up task forces, with elected junior doctor representatives in all hospitals and medical colleges to ensure that there are CCTVs, on-call rooms, and proper bathroom facilities; and strengthening police presence in hospitals by hiring permanent male and female officers, in the place of civic volunteers.

The demands also include immediately filling up all vacant positions for doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers in hospitals; setting up investigative committees in each medical college to deal with the “threat culture”, and forming a State-level inquiry committee; conducting student council elections in all medical colleges at the soonest, with recognition of RDAs (resident doctors association) and elected student and junior doctor representation in decision-making bodies; and investigating the widespread corruption and disorder within the West Bengal Medical Council and the West Bengal Health Recruitment Board.

Mass resignations

On October 8, the day before the Durga Puja formally commenced, and after three days of continuous hunger strike by the six junior doctors, more than 50 senior doctors of R.G. Kar resigned from their post in solidarity with the junior doctors. The letter addressed to the Director of Medical Education and Ex Officio secretary of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, stated: “We, the undersigned doctors of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, have been striving to provide optimal hospital services. However, the current conditions have made it increasingly challenging the quality of patient care that is essential… We, senior doctors of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital are giving mass resignation as the government seems to be oblivious of the deteriorating condition of the doctors on hunger strike, and if the situation demands, we will also go for individual resignation.”

On October 9, on the day of Shashti—the first day of the Pujas—as the condition of the protesters began to worsen after four days of fasting, more than 70 senior doctors from government colleges across the State resigned en masse. The doctors made it clear that this was a “symbolic resignation” in protest against the State government’s lack of response to the hunger strike of the junior doctors, but they were all prepared to make it formal by individually resigning.

Finally, a meeting between the junior doctors and representatives of the State government took place at Swasthya Bhavan (the headquarters of the State Health Department) in the early hours of the morning of October 10, but no solution came out of that. Stepping out of the meeting, visibly upset junior doctors alleged that there seemed to be no willingness on the part of the government to find a solution.

“They gave us assurances, like they gave us before, and told us to wait till the Pujas are over, and then they would consider our demands, and then sit for talks with us in the third week of October. Right now, every minute counts as our as my friends are weakening with their fasting, and anything can happen. What are they saying? That they will talk about it in the third week of October! They are playing games with the lives of those who are dedicated to saving lives of others,” said a junior doctor, who had attended the meeting.

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Koel Mitra, professor in the Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, Medical College Kolkata, who is one of the doctors who had resigned, told Frontline: “This is a deadlock situation, and we are very worried about our juniors. Already 108 hours have passed (as of October 10 morning), and the effects of fasting have set in; and that is what is scaring us now. The government does not seem to be bothered… Had there been a sensible government, it would have considered it a very aggressive step by the government sector doctors, and would have taken immediate measures to quell the situation; but instead, the government has actually asked us to resign individually, following all the technicalities, which we have agreed to do if the government continues to do nothing.”

Though the doctors have resigned, they have decided to continue to work for the duration of the Durga Puja; and following that, they will take more “drastic steps”. “From October 14, onward, we will take all the drastic steps that we think are necessary. Private sector doctors have already voiced their solidarity with us. Apollo (one of the biggest chains of hospitals) has called in and told us that all elective OTs and OPDs will be closed, and they are only going to run the emergency section. We are looking at something like that in the government sector as well,” said Mitra. She emphasised that the doctors’ demands are not for serving their own interest. “Apart from justice for Abhaya (the name given to the rape and murder victim), the other demands, if you see, are aimed at bettering the health system in the state,” said Mitra.

R.G. Kar shadow over Puja

The heinous crime at R.G. Kar also cast its dark shadow over the festivities. A number of clubs across West Bengal had turned down the State government’s generous grant of Rs.85,000 to organise the Puja, and a few organisers even made the R.G. Kar incident the theme of the Puja pandal. A pandal at Kankurgachhi in central Kolkata named its theme “Lajja”, or “Shame”. The Goddess is depicted covering her face in shame; and at her feet, is not the slayed demon king, but a dead maiden. Behind the Goddess hangs a doctor’s overall and stethoscope. Even the mighty lion on which the Goddess rides, is hanging his head down. At another pandal in Baharampur district, the demon king’s face bears a striking resemblance to Sandip Ghosh, the ex-principal of R.G. Kar, who is currently being investigated by the CBI for corruption and also for trying to cover up the crime.

Though people are thronging to the pandals, the usual exuberance is somewhat missing; as though a feeling of collective guilt pervades over the population, stopping them from enjoying themselves too much.

The appointment of Shubhankar Sarkar, former secretary of the All India Congress Committee, as the new president of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) has come as a major surprise in Bengal. This move, replacing five-time Lok Sabha MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, has left a sizeable section of the State’s top Congress leadership frowning. The change is perceived as the Congress high command’s friendly overture to Trinamool Congress, replacing one of the ruling party’s strongest critics with a more moderate voice.

Chowdhury had tendered his resignation after the 2024 Lok Sabha election, where the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front-Congress combine won only one seat. Chowdhury himself lost the Baharampur seat, which he had held consecutively since 1999. On September 21, AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal announced: “Hon’ble Congress President has appointed Shri Subhankar Sarkar as the President of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee with immediate effect. He has been relieved from his current position as AICC Secretary. The party appreciates the contributions of the outgoing PCC President, Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.”

Responding to his replacement, Chowdhury stated, “It is customary for the party president to offer to step down after a bad election result. When we didn’t get the expected outcome in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, I informed the AICC of my wish to resign. They neither asked me to reconsider nor assigned me any other role, so I continued my work as before, speaking out against the Trinamool government’s misrule in West Bengal. The high command has now taken its own decision.”

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Chowdhury has been relentless in his criticism of Trinamool. Prior to the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Trinamool blamed him for the failure of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) – comprising the Congress, Trinamool, and the Left–to effectively challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in West Bengal. Political observers believe that following INDIA’s defeat, the Congress central leadership is attempting to strengthen ties with state powers like Trinamool that oppose the BJP.

Restore relations with Trinamool

Psephologist Biswanath Chakraborty views Chowdhury’s replacement by Sarkar as a calculated strategy, facilitated by Chowdhury’s resignation offer. “Appointing Shubhankar as president is a peace offering to Trinamool, aiming for a minimal understanding between the parties. He’s known to be conciliatory towards Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and open to dialogue with Trinamool,” Chakraborty said. However, he noted that Sarkar lacks mass appeal and organisational skills, potentially further demoralising Congress party workers. “He seems chosen solely to mend ties with Trinamool. By making Sarkar president, the AICC has sacrificed the Bengal Congress to maintain good relations with Trinamool,” Chakraborty added, also pointing out that Chowdhury received insufficient support from the central leadership during the election.

Addressing the media after assuming his post, Sarkar said, “For me, Trinamool is a political party. If it functions democratically, I won’t needlessly oppose it… We’ve long been with the Left, and I’ve campaigned with their senior leadership. I wasn’t made president to declare we’re no longer with the Left but with Trinamool, or neither; I was made president to strengthen the Congress party… I want to work with the people and understand their thoughts… So far, we’ve fought elections with the Left as our ally; both the Left and Trinamool are partners in the INDI Alliance.”

Former WBPCC president Pradip Bhattacharya told Frontline that while it’s premature to predict future developments, he’s optimistic about the new president’s potential to revitalise the party. “He’s assured me and other senior leaders that he’ll consult us before making any political decisions. I responded that this approach is ideal, and we can’t ignore the ground realities in West Bengal under Trinamool rule,” Bhattacharya said.

Debaprasad Roy, a prominent Congress leader from north Bengal, pointed out the potential advantages in Sarkar’s leadership. “Shubhankar isn’t aligned with any faction within the Pradesh Congress, which likely gave him an edge over other contenders. As he doesn’t appear to be a dominating leader, he’s expected to provide collective leadership, which has been missing,” Roy told Frontline.

Dissatisfied party workers

While WBPCC leaders have been cautious in their official statements about the leadership change, many have privately expressed reservations. A senior Congress leader told Frontline, “We’re certainly not happy about this appointment. Sarkar has never been a leader of stature deserving this post. His strength lies in aligning with influential AICC lobbies. The fact that he was made West Bengal chief within a month of being appointed Indian National Congress state-in-charge of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Mizoram speaks for itself. I’m unsure how many will be willing to follow him.”

Veteran political observer Biswajit Bhattacharya feels Sarkar’s lack of organisational experience doesn’t bode well for the Congress. “Staging a political turnaround requires organisational abilities, which Sarkar hasn’t demonstrated. Even as a student leader, he wasn’t at the forefront of any major movement. He’s unlikely to build the party infrastructure that Congress desperately needs now, something a leader like Amitabha Chakraborty might be better at,” Bhattacharya told Frontline.

WBPCC leaders and workers are also baffled at the timing of the move. The ruling Trinamool is perhaps at its most vulnerable now, in the aftermath of the R.G. Kar rape and murder case. Many believe that a stronger leader with a direct connect with the masses and party workers is what the Congress needs now.

A senior party leader said: “Adhir Chowdhury may have had his faults, but he was a strong leader who never pulled his punches when it came to the Trinamool; but Sarkar is neither a strong leader, nor is he a powerful, critical voice that can be used against the ruling party. This was the time for us to gain some political ground, but that is not likely to happen under Sarkar. His appointment looks like a gesture of appeasement by our central leadership to Mamata, as if assuring her that the Congress is behind the Trinamool in its fight against the BJP in the State.”

He also pointed out that the party, while accepting Chowdhury’s resignation in June, had not installed anyone until September 21 as WBPCC president. “The election results were declared on June 4, and Chowdhury sent his resignation letter on June 9. It would still have been understandable if Sarkar was made WBPCC president at that time. But it makes no sense to place someone like him at the helm now, when the party can use a leader who can put further pressure on an already cornered Trinamool,” said the WBPCC leader.

Furthermore, Sarkar faces the challenge of filling the shoes of an iconic leader like Adhir Chowdhury. Long considered the tallest Congress leader in Bengal, Chowdhury had managed to defend Baharampur – one of the last Congress bastions – against both CPI(M) and Trinamool’s aggressive attempts to capture it. Despite being a charismatic leader with a mass following, Chowdhury failed to reverse the Congress’s declining fortunes in the state. His uncompromising attitude towards political opponents often extended to his own party members, with many WBPCC leaders resenting his autocratic style.

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Moreover, party rank and file felt Chowdhury was an “absent” president, who, when not in Delhi, was mostly in his Baharampur constituency in Murshidabad. A Congress leader noted, “Neither the workers nor the people of the state saw Adhir Chowdhury providing leadership to the Congress. His time in Bengal was spent in Murshidabad, as if the Murshidabad District Congress office had an extension in Kolkata.”

Electoral success not equivalent to leadership qualities

Chowdhury’s two stints as WBPCC president–2014-2018 and 2020-2024–did little to stem the party’s downward slide. A Congress source commented, “Adhir is the lone Congress leader to have repeatedly won against two different ruling parties, but electoral success doesn’t necessarily equate to great leadership… In Bengal, under his leadership, Congress managed less than 2,000 seats out of 70,000 odd gram panchayats and panchayat samities. We couldn’t secure a single Assembly seat, and our Lok Sabha tally dropped to one.” According to him, this doesn’t reflect well on his leadership. His biggest failure is that Congress lost its visibility in the state and is barely considered an Opposition party. Where is Congress in the movement following the rape and murder case at R G Kar? People only see the BJP and the Left.”

In the 2016 Assembly election, Congress, allied with the Left, won 44 of its 92 contested seats, while the CPI(M) won only 26 out of 148. But the Congress rapidly lost ground thereafter. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, its tally fell from four to two. In the 2021 Assembly polls, despite contesting 91 seats in alliance with the Left, it failed to win any. The 2024 Lok Sabha election saw it win just one seat, with Chowdhury losing his long-held Baharampur seat to former cricketer Yusuf Pathan.

As the Pradesh Congress cautiously enters a new era, its old rival-turned-ally, the Bengal unit of CPI(M), will closely monitor developments. Sujan Chakraborty, senior leader and CPI(M) Central Committee member, told Frontline, “Both CPI(M) and Congress were part of the collective initiative against the BJP at the Centre, agreeing to defeat both BJP and Trinamool in West Bengal. Congress has bitter experiences with Trinamool, whose rise to power in 2011 was facilitated by Congress support, only for Trinamool to subsequently try to destroy it. Congress workers and supporters know this. I hope under the new leadership, Congress will heed its supporters’ and workers’ demands.”

WATCH | Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay in conversation with Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly

Justice Ganguly said that the Aparajita Bill was a political gimmick to divert attention from the huge unrest over the recent rape and murder of a young doctor within the premises of Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Hospital.
| Video Credit:
Interview by Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay; Camera by Jayanta Shaw; Editing by Samson Ronald K., Produced by Jinoy Jose P.

On September 2, the West Bengal government passed the Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, apparently in response to the gruesome rape and murder of a young doctor in Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. Since then, the Bill has been universally panned as regressive, unconstitutional, and anti-feminist, with activists calling it nothing more than a desperate attempt by the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government to quell the rising public anger against it. It has also attracted criticism for several aspects such as mandatory death sentence, reducing the time frame for investigation and trial, and enhanced punishments under several sections of the existing laws such as the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita; the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita; and the POCSO Act.

In an exclusive interview with Frontline, retired Supreme Court Justice and eminent jurist Asok Kumar Ganguly pointed out that “mandatory death sentence” had already been outlawed via a 1983 Supreme Court judgment and when the entire world is moving towards abolition of the death penalty, making it mandatory marks the Bill as regressive. He also spoke about how harsher laws do not impact the rate of crime, the societal changes needed to prevent rape, and more.

Jawhar Sircar speaking in the Rajya Sabha.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Jawhar Sircar, Rajya Sabha MP of the Trinamool Congress, dropped a political bomb on September 8, by sending his resignation letter to West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee, citing the State government’s “faulty handling” of the rape and murder case at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. In a hard-hitting letter, the former bureaucrat pointed to various ills within the ruling party and the government, and said that the “non-political”, “spontaneous” protests in the State are “as much for Abhaya as it is against the State government and the party”. In an exclusive interview with Frontline, Sircar claimed that he took this decision in an attempt to correct Trinamool from continuing in its present course. Excerpts:

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