"I will not comment on PM Modi as it's not my job," said Mamata Banerjee in response to the Morbi Bridge accident

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that she wants to go to Morbi, where a bridge collapse killed over 130 people on Sunday, but was afraid the BJP would accuse her of doing politics.

On Wednesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said there should be accountability for the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy but that she won’t do politics over it. Speaking in Kolkata, Banerjee also commented on the Prime Minister’s home state of Gujarat and said, “I am not going to say anything on Modi only because this happened in Gujarat.”

“I will not say anything about the Prime Minister as it is his state where the accident happened,” said Banerjee, who was leaving for Chennai from the Kolkata airport to attend a programme organised by West Bengal Governor La Ganeshan.

After 130 people died, a suspension bridge collapsed in Gujarat’s Morbi district on Sunday. Mamata Banerjee (the Chief Minister of West Bengal) said that she wants to go to Morbi but is afraid that the BJP would accuse her of doing politics.

Taking a jab at the BJP, Mamata Banerjee said, “Bengal has many bridges. We’ve had many instances of bridge collapses here, but unlike the Gujarat government we have always risen to the occasion, providing help spontaneously.”

“When asked by reporters why he believes a judicial inquiry is necessary, the chief minister said that “since the accident happened in his state, it would be inappropriate to comment”.”

“The lives of people are important…My condolences. I don’t know how many dead bodies have been recovered. We need to look at this from a humanitarian standpoint, but it’s a crime whoever built such bridges,” Mamata Banerjee said.

“I am very sad,” she said. “I want to go to Morbi, but they will say I am doing politics if I do. If I get the chance, I will go.”

Following the Morbi cable bridge collapse, Mamata Banerjee issued directives to conduct thorough inspections on 1,500 bridges in the state and prepare a report by the end of this month. “We have 1,500 bridges. These bridges should be audited properly. Accountability should be done but I will not do any [political] games,” she said.

After the Morbi bridge collapsed, Pulak Rai, Minister of Public Works, held a meeting with senior officials and engineers. They decided to check all 2,109 bridges in the state starting this month.

“All the bridges should be checked and reported back at the end of this month, and if there is any defect or need for repairs we should take action immediately. Most of these bridges are in rural or forested areas of our state and they are quite old too,” said Rai.