Govt hiding number of Kumbh deaths: SP chief

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party's "double-engine" government was hiding the number of deaths in the recent stampede at the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, demanding strict disciplinary action against those trying to cover up the alleged mismanagement in organising the religious event.

- Abhishek Angad

NEW DELHI:

Yadav, who was participating in the debate on the motion of thanks on the President's address, demanded that an all-party meeting be called to discuss the arrangements at the Maha Kumbh and hand over the disaster management and lost and found centre at the fair to the army.

"At a time when the government is continuously reeling out the budget numbers, I urge them to first give the numbers of those who died in the Maha Kumbh. For an explanation on the arrangements at Kumbh, I demand that an all-party meeting be called. If there is no criminal intent, why is the data being suppressed, hidden, and deleted?" Yadav said, stressing that hiding and destroying evidence is also a crime.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also demanded disciplinary action against those who have tried to cover up the "mis-management" in the arrangements for the Kumbh.

"The figures for the deaths in the Maha Kumbh stampede, treatment of injured, availability of medicines, doctors, food, water, transport should be presented in Parliament," he said.