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Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav has demanded transparency regarding the fatalities at the Mahakumbh stampede, urging the government to present accurate figures on the deaths, treatment of the injured, and arrangements made for the event.
Participating in the debate on the motion of thanks on the President's Address, Akhilesh called for an all-party meeting to clarify the situation and recommended that disaster management and the lost and found centre be handed over to the Army. "While the government is continuously giving budget figures, please also give the figures of those who died in Mahakumbh. I demand an all-party meeting should be called to give clarification about the arrangements for Mahakumbh. The responsibility of Mahakumbh disaster management and lost and found centre should be given to the Army. The figures for the deaths in Mahakumbh accident, treatment of injured, availability of medicines, doctors, food, water, transport should be presented in the Parliament," he said. Yadav also pressed for strict punitive action against those responsible for the tragedy and those who concealed the facts, questioning the government's decision to suppress the numbers. "For the Mahakumbh 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 added. "Log punye kamane aaye the aur apno ke shav lekar gaye hai (People came to earn merit, but they left with the bodies of their loved ones)" the SP Chief said. Sharpening his attacks on the Uttar Pradesh government, Akhilesh Yadav said that where proper arrangements should have been made, there was political campaigning instead. "Political campaigning in a religious gathering, especially with a double-engine government, is disgraceful and condemnable. It was claimed that the Mahakumbh would be conducted digitally and with modern technology. Based on CCTV, drones, and live streaming, those who claimed to be organizing a digital Kumbh are unable to even provide digital records of the deceased," he said. He mentioned that the "miraculous thing" is that the bodies of the devotees were found, but the government was not ready to acknowledge this. "When information surfaced that some people had lost their lives, what did the government do? They used government helicopters to shower flowers. Is this our Sanatan tradition?" he asked. "Our Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister didn't even express condolences. When the President and Prime Minister of the country expressed their condolences, the government only accepted it 17 hours later," Yadav said. The stampede occurred at the Mahakumbh Mela during the second Shahi Snan on Mouni Amawasya, claiming at least 30 lives and injuring around 60 individuals. Several opposition leaders raised concerns over the government's handling of the stampede during the Mauni Amavasya bathing ritual. (ANI)
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