Oppn blames Railways for NDLS stampede

Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders slam Railways' mismanagement, accuse govt of trying to hide the truth about the deaths in the tragedy

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

RJD President and former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has expressed deep condolences on the tragic death of 18 people in the stampede at New Delhi station on Saturday and demanded the government to provide Rs 20 lakh compensation to the dependents of the deceased and proper treatment to the injured.

He also blamed Indian Railways for mismanagement and demanded the railway minister to own the responsibility.

"The incident happened due to negligence of the railways that failed to ensure safety of the passengers. The railway minister should take responsibility for this incident and he should immediately resign from his post," said Yadav.

He also demanded a high level investigation of the stampede and sought action against those responsible for the tragedy.

Leader of Opposition in Bihar assembly Tejashwi Prasad also offered condolences and criticised the government as it failed to properly utilise the government resources to make the event easy and secure for the devotees. He blamed the government for focussing on self-publicity and making arrangements for VIPs. "Instead of ensuring safety of the common devotees, the government has limited its efforts to making special arrangements for the VIPs," he said.

RJD leaders also blamed the government for overall mismanagement, negligence and poor crowd management that led to previous stampede in Maha Kumbh causing death of a number of devotees. They blamed the government for hiding the actual number of people who died in the stampedes.

They also termed the compensation of Rs 10 lakh insufficient and demanded the government to give at least Rs 20 lakh to the families of the deceased.