New Delhi: The Opposition Monday raised a cry in both Houses of Parliament over last week’s Maha Kumbh stampede in which the death count has been officially pegged at 30. Demanding a discussion and release of names of the deceased, the opposition MPs claimed that “thousands” had died in the tragedy.
When Parliament had resumed Monday for the motion of thanks on the President’s address Friday, the first day of the budget session, the MPs in the Rajya Sabha put forth their demand, sloganeered and walked out when the chairman asked them not to disrupt the proceedings.
Similar scenes took place in the Lok Sabha, where opposition members raised the slogan of “tanashahi nahi chalegi (down with dictatorship)” and demanded a discussion on the stampede in Prayagraj.
Leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, taking part in the debate on the motion of thanks, alleged that “thousands of people lost their lives during the stampede and the government should declare the actual number of dead”, to which the treasury benches immediately erupted in protests.
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Several other Rajya Sabha MPs from the opposition side also cast aspersions on the death count announced by the Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh.
Samajwadi Party MP Ramgopal Yadav said “witnesses had informed that thousands of people died at the Maha Kumbh and the Adityanath government was hiding the figures”.
Yadav, who spoke to the media outside Parliament after a walkout, alleged mismanagement at the mela. “The incident took place because of mismanagement by the administration. Arrangements were made only for VIPs. Witnesses said thousands were killed in the stampede… bodies were flown in the river, families were not being given the bodies,” he said.
“Officials have been told to not count more than 30 bodies. No action has been taken against the erring officials… post-mortem exams have not been conducted. No action has been taken and responsibility has not been fixed. We have given notice here (in Parliament for discussion) but it has been rejected,” he added.
Congress MP Pramod Tiwari, who gave the notice in the Upper House, also attacked the UP government for “hiding the truth of the stampede” and not releasing the names of the dead.
“We walked out of the House for an hour. We are getting calls, people are crying, they are not able to meet their families. We want to know why the list of the 30 deceased has not been released. Our notices are being rejected continuously and the reason for it is also not known,” he said outside Parliament.
Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha said: “The entire country is worried about the people who lost their lives… kumbh used to take place even before them, and kumbh will take place even after them. Kumbh is a thing of continuity but a political party is not… people want accountability. This should be discussed in the House.”
“The seers who are speaking the truth are being demonised. Responsibility has been not fixed. What they did with Covid death figures, everybody knows. They should come out with the truth,” he added.
Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Sharma defended the government, saying the Opposition want to take “political advantage by dividing Sanatan and Hindu society into castes”. “At the Maha Kumbh, people of all castes are bathing together, but the Opposition is not able to tolerate this,” he said, alleging that it is doing politics over this unfortunate incident (stampede), whereas the arrangements were “quite good”.
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Ruckus in House
On Monday, as soon as the Rajya Sabha assembled, opposition members moved to demand a discussion on the stampede, but chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar cited his earlier view of not allowing Rule 267 that permits suspension of the day’s business to debate an issue suggested by a member.
The chairman expressed his displeasure over the demand, saying that it was unprecedented for MPs to disrupt a session during an obituary of a deceased member and termed such behaviour as highly disrespectful. The MPs, however, continued sloganeering and the opposition soon staged a walkout.
Responding to Kharge’s allegation about “thousands” dying in the stampede, Dhankhar said what is spoken in Parliament carries great weight. “Thousands? A message from here, even if contradicted, goes to the entire world. I am sure it will pain every heart. Can you go to that extent? As president of the Congress, if you put the figure in thousands, I can only appeal to your conscience. I am in great pain.”
He also asked Kharge to “authenticate” his charge.
To this, the opposition members retorted saying, “appeal to the leadership” demanding for the number of dead to be released.
Responding, Union Minister Piyush Goel said: “During (Jawaharlal) Nehru’s time, 800 people died in the kumbh mela, during Rajiv Gandhi’s time, 200 people died, in 2013, 42 people died, but today politics is being done over kumbh deaths.”
In the Lok Sabha too, members from opposition parties started sloganeering soon after the House resumed after Saturday’s Union Budget. As loud sloganeering continued, Speaker Om Birla said: “The people of India did not elect you to break tables or raise slogans. Don’t waste taxpayers’ money. The President has mentioned the Maha Kumbh in her speech.”
He further urged the opposition members to maintain decorum as other MPs raised their questions.
During the ruckus, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju rose to calm the House. “Members can raise this issue during the motion of thanks, and it’s not good to disrupt Question Hour,” he said.
The sloganeering, however, continued till the debate on the motion of thanks started and Ramvir Bidhuri of BJP started to talk about the alleged failures of the Delhi government.
In the Rajya Sabha, Pramod Tiwari and Digvijaya Singh (Congress), Sagarika Ghose (TMC), Javed Ali and Ramji Lal Suman (SP) and John Brittas (CPM) had given notices demanding a discussion on the Maha Kumbh, which was not accepted. In the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi and K.C. Venugopal of the Congress sought suspension of Question Hour to discuss the matter.
The Opposition had on Saturday, too, during presentation of the Union Budget, raised doubts on the official death toll of the stampede and demanded a discussion on it. The Samajwadi Party had raised slogans and staged a walkout demanding transparency from the Uttar Pradesh government.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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