Kumbh stampede toll suppressed, says SP

In Lok Sabha, Akhilesh says the mela management must be handed over to Army and guilty should be punished

- PREETHA NAIR @ New Delhi JITENDRA CHOUBEY @ New Delhi

LAUNCHING a blistering attack on the Uttar Pradesh government over the Maha Kumbh stampede, Samajwadi Party chief and Lok Sabha MP Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday demanded that the festival's management should be handed over to the Army and the guilty should be punished.

This comes a day after both the Houses of Parliament witnessed chaos over the Opposition's demand for discussion on the tragedy, with many MPs staging a walkout.

Replying to the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in Lok Sabha, Yadav also demanded that the government should present actual figures of the deaths in Parliament.

Tearing into the Yogi government over the mishap, the SP chief alleged that the government filled their helicopter with flowers and showered flower petals, while bodies were lying in mortuaries.

"When it was known that people had lost their lives, and their bodies were lying in the mortuary, the government filled their helicopters with flowers and showered the petals. What kind of Sanatani tradition is this?" he asked.