Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said that the government should release figures of those who died in the Maha Kumbh.
In a reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address, Yadav said, “While the government is continuously giving budget figures, please also give the figures of those who died in Maha Kumbh. I demand an all-party meeting should be called to give clarification about the arrangements for Maha Kumbh. The responsibility of Maha Kumbh disaster management and lost and found centre should be given to the Army. The figures for the deaths in Maha Kumbh accident, treatment of injured, availability of medicines, doctors, food, water, transport should be presented in the Parliament.”
“For the Maha Kumbh tragedy, there should be strict punitive action against those responsible and those who have hidden the truth should be punished. We ask the double-engine government, if there was no guilt, then why were the figures suppressed, hidden and erased?,” he asked.
The deadly stampede at the Maha Kumbh, leading to the deaths of at least 30 people, resonated in both Houses of Parliament on Monday, with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and other Opposition leaders demanding a list of the deceased on Monday.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the other hand said it smelt a conspiracy behind the stampede and that those responsible for it will have to hang their heads in shame once the probe is over.
In the Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition Kharge paid tributes to the “thousands” who died in the January 29 stampede, triggering an uproar from the treasury-bench members, even as Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar asked him to retract the statement.
The stampede occurred during the “Amrit Snan” on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya on January 29. According to the figures provided by the Uttar Pradesh government, 30 people were killed and 60 injured.
Members in both Houses raised the Kumbh-stampede issue while participating in a debate on the Motion of Thanks on the president’s address.
In the Lok Sabha, opposition MPs voiced strong concerns over the stampede, accusing the government of negligence and insensitivity and calling for accountability.