In West Bengal, opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari has slammed a senior IAS officer for spreading what he calls false claims against the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC). Adhikari says the accusations mirror those from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who often blames DVC for worsening floods by releasing water from its dams without warning the state government.
On Saturday, Adhikari shared a social media post with a video showing Hooghly District Magistrate Mukta Arya repeating similar allegations against DVC. In the clip, Arya speaks at a community Durga Puja pandal in the district. Adhikari tagged Cabinet Secretary T.V. Somanathan and West Bengal CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal to draw attention to the issue. Note that couldn’t independently verify the video’s authenticity.
Adhikari didn’t hold back in his post. “Is this what our state has come to?” he wrote. “A government official, entrusted with serving the people, openly peddling lies against a public institution, acting as a sycophant to impress her boss, so that the ruling party makes cheap political gains?”
He went further, urging the Election Commission of India to keep a close eye on officers like Arya ahead of the state’s assembly elections in a few months. As Hooghly’s district magistrate, Arya also serves as the district election officer, raising questions about impartiality. “Can we have faith in such biased officers who will be entrusted with conducting free and fair elections?” Adhikari asked.
The controversy ties into a Durga Puja pandal in Khanakul, Hooghly, where this year’s theme highlights how local areas suffer during monsoons—blaming DVC’s water releases. Adhikari pointed out that Mamata Banerjee personally selected this pandal, named Ghoshpur Sarbojanin Durgotsav, for a virtual inauguration. “This Puja pandal was handpicked by CM Mamata Banerjee… the objective of the theme is to malign the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), a respected Central Government organization,” he said. “One can understand Mamata Banerjee’s association, because it’s a shameless display of political opportunism.”
The clash highlights ongoing tensions in West Bengal politics over flood management, DVC operations, and election fairness as the state gears up for polls.
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