Budget Session: From Adani, Congress needle moves to stampede, signals more coordination with others in Opposition

In Rajya Sabha, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge paid tribute to the “thousands” who he said had died in the January 29 stampede. This provoked the Treasury benches, who accused the Congress of doing politics on the Kumbh deaths.

While Congress sources said the party often raised issues that were “important in nature” and of concern to the common people, many in the Opposition bloc said they were relieved the grand old party was finally in tune with the sentiments of the larger Opposition and not sticking to the issues it alone felt were crucial. “It’s not that we often raise the Adani issue. We have raised the issue only when there was a revelation of some irregularity,” said a senior Congress leader.

Meeting for the first time after the President’s address to the joint sitting and presentation of the Union Budget, both Houses witnessed chaotic scenes as the Opposition vociferously demanded a discussion on the Kumbh stampede and staged a walk-out, alleging the number of dead could be more than the 30 announced by the UP government. In both the Houses, the Congress took the lead.

Sources in the Opposition said Congress floor managers had reached out to some of the parties urging them to give notices seeking a discussion on the Kumbh issue.

In Rajya Sabha, Pramod Tiwari and Digvijaya Singh (Congress), Sagarika Ghose (TMC), Javed Ali and Ramji Lal Suman (Samajwadi Party), and John Brittas (CPI) had given notices demanding a discussion on the stampede.

The Lok Sabha saw Opposition members, including those from Congress, SP and DMK, storming the Well of the House and engaging in sloganeering demanding a discussion. And the slogans stood out as they accused the BJP of being “anti-Hindu”, a charge the BJP has often hurled at the Opposition. From “Marne walon ki soochi jaari karo (release the details of those dead)” and “Tanashahi nahi chalegi (Down with dictatorship)”, the slogans turned to “Sanatan virodhi Modi sarkar, Down Down, Down Down”, and “Dharm ka dhandha band karo (Stop using religion for business)”.

Interestingly, members of the TMC, a constituent of the INDIA bloc, did not come to the Well of the House in the Lok Sabha even though some of its members like Saugat Roy and Kalyan Bannerji stood up at their seats in solidarity with the Congress. TMC MP Kirti Azad even participated in the Question Hour.

Participating in the Debate on the President’s address in the afternoon, many Opposition members spoke about the stampede, accusing the government of negligence and insensitivity and calling for accountability.

“These people trusted the Union and state governments, hoping they would be protected, but unfortunately, no one protected them,” DMK MP Kanimozhi said. She alleged the government’s approach to governance had led to societal divisions. “When religion and politics merge, it is the innocent who suffer. We don’t even know the exact number of people who died in the stampede,” she said.

Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Chandra Uttam Patel also lashed out at the UP government’s handling of the Kumbh event. “The Kumbh Mela was not struck by a natural disaster; it was a glaring example of the government’s failure,” he said, asking why the government had not yet released a list of the deceased.

TMC’s Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar condemned the government’s response to the Kumbh tragedy, criticising the brevity of the President’s mention of the incident. “It is sad to say that the President only spent 61 words on this tragedy. She has neither condemned the deaths nor sent condolence messages to the families of the deceased,” she said.

“There is a clear discrepancy between the number of dead bodies in the morgue and the number of people reported missing. The same thing happened during Covid times,” she added.