Kolkata/New Delhi: A 40-year-old visitor died in a freak lift accident at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, early on Friday, recalling reports of administrative lapse and criminal activity that allegedly affect services rendered even at West Bengal’s public health centres of repute.
Friday’s incident raises fresh questions about public hospital infrastructure, safety, and accountability in West Bengal, reviving memories of the August 2024 rape-and-murder of a young doctor at the same premises, which had triggered massive citizen protests across the state.
This time, protests were scant and the administration acted soon after the incident, though the top brass of the hospital is yet to be questioned.
Word has also spread that the victim was a Trinamool supporter, thus controlling Opposition mobilisation.
Just a day earlier, the mother of the 2024 victim doctor announced her intent to contest elections as a BJP candidate, discouraging some of the earlier protest base.
A political picture has been set following the family’s statement on aligning with the BJP, reducing broader civic unity.
With Assembly elections scheduled for April 23 and 29 and results to be announced on May 4, the state government’s welfare and minority protection stance continue to outweigh episodic anger.
The war of attrition over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is also being seen as a strong emotive factor.
However, the accident raises fresh questions about public hospital infrastructure, safety, and accountability in the state.
Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo, Mamata Banerjee, has been riding on the enduring support among two ‘M’s – Mahila’ (women) and Minority – largely through government-sponsored welfare schemes, symbolic leadership, and political positioning.
Since she took direct control of the health department after the 2024 incident at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, the intense backlash subsided, adding another ‘M’ for medical.
Now, the tragic death of the hospital visitor in front of his wife and three-year-old son – who was brought for medical attention – has failed to stir Bengal’s emotions.
The trio got trapped for an hour in a lift marked for patients at the hospital early on Friday.
Reports said the victim was found wedged between the lift doors that he was trying to pry open while his wife and son suffered minor bruises.
Ironically, women, like the victim’s wife, constitute nearly half the electorate, and surveys suggest most vote for the Trinamool, making them among Mamata’s most reliable bloc.
The state government’s flagship schemes include Kanyashree that provides financial aid for girls to continue in school, benefiting nearly 10 million students.
Additionally, there is Rupashree, with Rs. 25,000 grants for women during marriage, reaching over 22 lakh families.
In its 2026 manifesto, the Trinamool has promised Rs. 1,500 per month to unemployed youth and women in the general category. These schemes have transformed women from passive voters into active political stakeholders.
Women now see Mamata as a guarantor of dignity, education, and financial stability.
Meanwhile Muslims, roughly comprising over 30 per cent of West Bengal’s population, have also benefitted from financial assistance.
Mamata has positioned herself as a defender of minority rights, and consistently opposed NRC, CAA, and now, SIR.
Her use of Urdu in speeches, presence at Eid gatherings, and welfare targeting of minority-dominated districts reinforce her image as a protector of pluralism.
Now, the party has added expansion of healthcare, housing, and job support programmes in its poll promises, specifically aimed at marginalised communities.
On the other hand, narrative frames incidents like Friday’s as administrative failures rather than systemic collapse, and her welfare-driven legitimacy prevents the Opposition BJP from converting outrage into mass movements.
From 2011 to 2026, the Trinamool has systematically built and reinforced a coalition of women and minorities through welfare schemes and political positioning. As West Bengal heads into the 2026 elections, the 2M factor remains the decisive factor in her continued dominance.
(IANS)
