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Today in Politics: Heat on Yogi, Uttar Pradesh government over Kumbh stampede

Akhilesh Yadav suggested that the management and administration of the Kumbh should be handed over to the Army.

Crowd at Maha Kumbh Mela on Mauni Amavasya in Prayagraj on January 29. (Express Photo/ Chitral Khambhati)

Within hours of the stampede at the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, leaders of Opposition parties targeted the Centre and the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that “mismanagement” and “VIP culture” led to the mishap and deaths.

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi blamed the “VIP culture” for the incident and said it should be curbed and the government “should make better arrangements to meet the needs of common devotees”.

“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.

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.

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Thirty people died and at least 60 were injured in a pre-dawn stampede Wednesday at the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj where hundreds of thousands gathered to take a dip at the Sangam.

The heat will be on the local administration, the Yogi Adityanath-led
Uttar Pradesh government.

AP govt WhatsApp governance scheme

The Andhra Pradesh government is set to introduce what is called ‘WhatsApp governance’ starting Thursday, enabling people to avail themselves of 161 services through the messaging app.

Officials gave Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu a demonstration on this new programme during a review meeting held at the secretariat on Wednesday.

“In the first phase, the government makes 161 services available in this. Officials explained to the CM during the presentation, on how people availing these services will choose their options,” said an official press release.

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Services pertaining to the Endowments, Energy, APSRTC, Revenue, Anna Canteens, CM Relief Fund (CMRF) and Municipal Departments would be provided in the first phase and the second phase is expected to promise more services.

Further, the CM directed officials to ensure that people’s data doesn’t fall into the hands of cyber criminals and called for the strengthening of forensic and cybersecurity.

On October 22, 2024, the state inked a deal with Meta to extend services through whatsapp.

IT Minister Nara Lokesh is expected to inaugurate WhatsApp governance services on Thursday, the press release added.

— With PTI inputs