Akhilesh Yadav slams UP government, asks it to release names of people who died in Kumbh stampede

Addressing a rally in Milkipur assembly constituency in Ayodhya which will see bypoll on February 5, Yadav said the government has been releasing daily figures of the number of people who took a holy dip at the Triveni Sangam but has not released the list of casualties.

"Since day one, the State government has been giving figures daily about how many people have taken holy dip (at Triveni Sangam during Mahakumbh)...Those who can give the numbers of people taking holy dip were not able to tell how many people lost their lives. Such a thing has never happened before," he said.

He disagreed with the figure of 30 deaths given by the state government and said people were still searching for their loved ones.

"The government is not able to give the correct numbers of the deceased...I want to say the one who walks on the path of truth is a true Yogi, and the one who hides the truth can never be a true Yogi," the SP chief added.

Several opposition leaders have demanded accountability from the state government for the tragic incident.

Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav blamed the government, stating that the incident took place because of the mismanagement of the administration.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha said that the incident is a matter of concern and the entire country is worried about the loss of lives in the incident.

Congress MP Pramod Tiwari questioned why the government is not releasing the list of 30 persons who were killed in the incident.

"...We walked out of the House for an hour. We will go back again and raise this issue. We are getting calls, people are crying, they are not able to meet their families. We want to know why the list of the 30 deceased persons has not been released...Our notices are being rejected continuously and the reason for it is also not known..." Tiwari said. (ANI)