Opposition parties have called on the central and Uttar Pradesh governments to expand arrangements for devotees at the Maha Kumbh following the stampede that left 15 feared dead.
The parties said that food, first aid, and the movement of devotees should be enhanced, while VIP movement should be curtailed, adding that this is what saints and sages also want.
Reacting to the incident, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said that self-promotion and mismanagement were responsible for the stampede at Maha Kumbh.
“Our deepest condolences to the families of the devotees and we wish for the speedy recovery of the injured. Half-baked arrangements, VIP movement, paying more attention to self-promotion than management and mismanagement are responsible for this. Despite spending thousands of crores of rupees, such arrangements are condemnable. There are still many important ‘Shahi Snan’ left, so the central and state governments should wake up now and improve the arrangements so that such unpleasant incidents do not happen in future,” Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
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Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav urged the government to provide air ambulances for seriously injured devotees, return bodies to their families, increase monitoring with helicopters, and reunite separated people.
“The news of devotees being affected by the mismanagement-related incident at the Maha Kumbh is extremely saddening. My condolences! We appeal to our government to: Provide immediate medical arrangements for seriously injured individuals by airlifting them to the nearest best hospitals. Identify the bodies of the deceased, hand them over to their families, and ensure they are sent to their residences. Make quick efforts to reunite those who are separated. Increase surveillance by effectively utilising helicopters,” Akhilesh wrote in Hindi in a post on X (formerly Twitter)
The Lok Sabha MP said that the sacred tradition of the ‘Shahi Snan’ on Mauni Amavasya should continue without disruption while ensuring the smooth conduct of the dip alongside relief efforts.
“Continue the unbroken, sacred tradition of the Shahi Snan on Mauni Amavasya, ensuring the smooth conduct of the royal dip alongside relief efforts. We also appeal to the devotees to act with patience and restraint during this difficult time and complete their pilgrimage peacefully. The government should learn from today’s incident and make additional arrangements for the accommodation, food, water, and other facilities for the devotees,” Akhilesh added.
Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Delhi BJP shared his election campaign video on X, Delhi minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj wrote, “All the devotees injured in the stampede at Maha Kumbh have not even reached the hospital yet and you are busy campaigning? It is your own government there, please look into the arrangements for the Maha Kumbh as well, brother.”