Tent collapse: Decorator says innocent, being made a scapegoat

Kolkata: The decorator, who is facing flak over the collapse of the marquee at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Midnapore, today said he is innocent and being made a “scapegoat” in the tussle between the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress.

Rajiv Kumar Singh of J N Decorators, who has been organising programs for the West Bengal unit of the BJP for the last one decade, said he had repeatedly asked party leaders to ensure that no one got on top of the marquee.

“I was there at the venue yesterday… I had told party leaders and local security personnel to see that no one gets on top of the marquee. But, no steps were taken which resulted in the collapse of the structure, as it could not withstand the weight of so many people,” Singh told PTI.

“It was not my fault. I did my job with utmost sincerity… I am being made a scapegoat so that others can evade their responsibility,” he said.

The makeshift tent collapsed at the venue of Modi’s rally here yesterday, when he was midway through his speech, injuring 90 people, at least 50 of them women.

The West Bengal BJP leadership today blamed the “lacklustre attitude” of the state government and police administration as the reason behind the incident. Both the police and the TMC leadership have termed the allegations as baseless.

Police have registered a case against the organiser and J N Decorators, for negligence of duty, SP West Midnapore Alok Rajoria said.