Senior TMC minister slams party colleagues for not visiting Amphan-hit areas

Senior TMC leader and West Bengal government minister Subrata Mukherjee on Friday slammed his cabinet colleagues for not visiting the Cyclone Amphan-affected areas of the state and said such "mistakes need to be rectified in near future". Mukherjee, 74, said he himself could not visit the cyclone-hit areas due to his old age.

"Senior ministers should have visited the cyclone-affected areas. I too should have gone but my old age didn't permit me. But others don't have the same problem. We should have stood by the people at this time of crisis. Such mistakes should be rectified in near future. Those who didn't stand by people at the time of a crisis committed a grave mistake," he said.

"A minister stays nearby Sundarbans but didn't visit those areas. This is wrong," he said.

According to party sources, Mukherjee was pointing at Sunderbans Affairs Minister Manturam Pakhira. When contacted, Pakhira declined to comment. Mukherjee is the second minister in the state cabinet who has spoken out against the party leadership. Last week, senior minister Sadhan Pande spoke out against the party after he blamed the TMC-run Kolkata Municipal Corporation for "lack of planning" in dealing with Amphan that killed 98 people and left a trail of destruction in Bengal. The Trinamool Congress leadership cautioned Pande and asked him to not publicly express views against the party.