Opposition targets Centre, UP: Mismanagement, VVIP culture led to stampede at Maha Kumbh

“Mismanagement and the administration’s special focus on VIP movement, instead of common devotees, are responsible for this tragic incident,” he said.

SP chief and former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav suggested that the management and administration of the Kumbh should be handed over to the Army to restore trust among the devotees and the sants. “Those who are making tall claims of world-class arrangements at the Maha Kumbh… should take moral responsibility for the deaths and should resign from their positions,” Yadav said, calling for stepped-up surveillance from the air.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also blamed “VIP movement”, “half-baked arrangements” and “attention to self-promotion rather than management and mismanagement” for the incident.

Jagwanti lost her mother and sister-in-law in the stampede on Wednesday.
(Express photo by Chitral Khambhati)

UP Congress president Ajay Rai said the state government was “busy in taking care of VIPs” and “destroyed” the arrangements. “This incident is a failure of the government. The VIP system is all around… There are no arrangements for ordinary devotees,” Rai said.

Ujjwal Raman Singh, Congress MP from Allahabad, demanded an inquiry led by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court into the incident.

Singh said he was in Prayagraj but the administration was not letting him visit the hospitals and the area where the stampede took place.

“We had expressed the apprehension much earlier that anything could happen because of the prevailing VIP culture, VIP movements and incomplete preparations at the Kumbh Mela,” Singh said, alleging that the “entire administration is working to cover-up the incident”.

Ambulances make way at Maha Kumbh Mela after a stampede at Sangam ghat on Mauni Amavasya in Prayagraj on Wednesday. (Express photo by Chitral Khambhati)

He claimed that the administration was not letting people access the pontoon bridges. “All the pontoon bridges have been closed ever since the visits of the Home Minister and Chief Minister. When I inquired with officials, they said all pontoon bridges will remain closed until January 30. People are forced to walk on foot up to 20 km,” he said.

The CPI (M), while expressing “shock and sorrow” over the incident and deaths, targeted the UP government. “It completely exposes the mismanagement of the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government despite incurring huge expenses. We express our condolences to the bereaved families,” the party said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said the Kumbh Mela is not an event but a matter of faith. “If you call crores of people, what are the arrangements? Women are having to sleep on the streets. During Akhilesh Yadav’s tenure, the arrangements at Kumbh were the best. When Union Ministers and VIPs visit, it puts pressure on the system and the whole city has to be shut down… the administration is responsible for these deaths,” Raut told reporters.

“More than Rs 10,000 crore has been spent. Where did it go? If there were arrangements, this incident wouldn’t have happened. The BJP is marketing this event,” he said.

Geeta Shashtri, SP MLA from Soraon, an Assembly constituency north of Prayagraj city, said, “We are not allowed to visit the spot, the hospitals. The Ganga is nearly 4 km from my place but I am not allowed to visit. There are CCTVs installed at all important locations and the government can investigate.”

Vijama Yadav, SP MLA from Pratappur, said, “A woman from my own constituency has died in the stampede and I can’t even visit her home due to restrictions on our movements. The administration’s focus was on publicity…There was complete mismanagement on the ground. The result is this tragedy.”

Vachaspati, Apna Dal (Sonelal) MLA from Bara, south of Prayagraj city, said, “I run many colleges and hundreds of teachers are employed there. They were at a bhandara we had organised at an ashram on the Kumbh Mela grounds last night, barely 100 metres from the Sangam. Our teachers rushed back without taking a holy dip and told me that besides the reported deaths, several were missing and injured. I visited the Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital where around 15 injured were being treated. I could not reach the Sangam because we were not allowed. The government was very prompt… What has happened is a tragedy.”