Speaking during the Motion of Thanks in the Lok Sabha, the member of Parliament (MP) from UP’s Kannauj also demanded an all-party meeting on the incident and said that the responsibility to manage the disaster management and the lost-and-found centre of Kumbh should be given to the Army.
He asked why the data on the Maha Kumbh stampede victims was “suppressed, hidden, and deleted” if there was no “criminal intent” on the part of the authorities.
He said that during the budget session, the government presented all the data regarding the announcements, however, the data on the deaths in Mahakumbh stampede is still not given.
“I was told that it is the first time on earth that the entire Kumbh, such a congregation, would be (monitored) digitally with the usage of modern technologies. The ones who guaranteed that this would be a digital Kumbh, based on the usage of CCTVs, drones, and live streaming of the entire gathering, these people don’t get tired ranting ‘digital, digital. digital’, but the same people aren’t able to give digits of the deceased,” said Yadav.
He added that there is no number on the possible deaths of children, and people are unable to find the ‘khoya-paya (lost-and-found)’ centre at all.
“Is this sanatani (Hindu duties) tradition. Where the dead bodies are left behind…these people were showering flowers from helicopters…I don’t know how many slippers, saree of the women were there…They were all picked up in tractors and JCB machines.”
The stampede at the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj on the ‘Sangam Nose’ left 30 dead and 90 injured as lakhs of devotees rushed to a holy dip. The tragedy struck Mauni Amavasya on January 29, the most sacred bathing day, as barriers collapsed under pressure.
Yadav said, “I demand an all-party meeting so that an explanation on the Kumbh could be given. The responsibility to manage the disaster management and the lost-and-found centre of Kumbh should be given to the Army. A report should be presented to Parliament. Strict action should be taken on the people responsible for the incident (and) who hid the truth.”
He also alleged that the BJP broke an old tradition by not following the “auspicious time” of the entire Kumbh.
Before beginning his speech, Yadav sought two minutes of time to pray for the stampede victims. Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla said that this would happen with his permission.
Earlier on Monday, Opposition lawmakers disrupted proceedings and staged a walk out in both Houses of Parliament, demanding a list of those deceased in the Maha Kumbh stampede and an immediate discussion on it, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge triggering an uproar in the Rajya Sabha by claiming “thousands” died in the the incident.
While chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar urged the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha to retract his statement, Union minister Piyush Goyal accused Kharge of “tarnishing India’s reputation on national and international platforms”.