Ruckus in House Over Kumbh, Oppn walks out

Opposition lawmakers disrupted proceedings in both Houses of Parliament on Monday, demanding an immediate discussion on the Maha Kumbh stampede that claimed at least 30 lives and a list of those deceased, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge triggering an uproar in the Rajya Sabha by claiming "thousands" died in the January 29 incident.

- HT Correspondents

NEW DELHI:

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". Opposition MPs also staged a walkout in both the Houses soon after the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha met for the first time after the President's address to the joint sitting.

"I pay my tributes to the people who died in Maha Kumbh... the thousands who died in Kumbh," Kharge said in the Rajya Sabha, triggering an uproar from treasury benches. "This is my estimate, if this is not right you (government) should tell what is the truth... If I am wrong, I am ready to correct," the Congress chief said.