'Bodies dumped in JCB machines': Akhilesh Yadav's Maha Kumbh stampede speech in Lok Sabha
Bodies were filled in JCB machines and tractors, and no one knows where they went, alleged former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav while speaking in Lok Sabha on Maha Kumbh stampede.
Yadav said: "When it was known that some people had lost their lives, their bodies were lying in the mortuary and in the hospital, then the govt filled their government helicopter with flowers and showered flower petals. What kind of Sanatani tradition is this?... God knows how many slippers, clothes, and sarees were lying there and they lifted all of them using JCB machines and tractor trolleys. Nobody knows where they were thrown. To hide everything, it is heard that some pressure and some sweeteners are being given so that their news does not come out..."
#WATCH | Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav says "When it was known that some people had lost their lives, their bodies were lying in the mortuary and in the hospital, then the govt filled their government helicopter with flowers and showered flower petals. What kind of… pic.twitter.com/vI2kbLsO6p
— ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2025
#WATCH | Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav says "While the government is continuously giving budget figures, please also give the figures of those who died in Maha Kumbh. I demand an all-party meeting should be called to give clarification about the arrangements for Maha… pic.twitter.com/4UBmAqBtsZ
— ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2025
The SP leader's statement could spark a controversy ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Prayagraj on Wednesday.
Yadav demanded transparency regarding the fatalities at the Maha Kumbh stampede, urging the government to present accurate figures on the deaths, treatment of the injured, and arrangements made for the event.
He also called for an all-party meeting to clarify the situation and recommended that disaster management and the lost and found centre be handed over to the Army.
"While the government is continuously giving budget figures, please also give the figures of those who died in Mahakumbh. I demand an all-party meeting should be called to give clarification about the arrangements for Mahakumbh. The responsibility of Mahakumbh disaster management and lost and found centre should be given to the Army. The figures for the deaths in Mahakumbh accident, treatment of injured, availability of medicines, doctors, food, water, transport should be presented in the Parliament," he said.
Yadav also pressed for strict punitive action against those responsible for the tragedy and those who concealed the facts, questioning the government's decision to suppress the numbers.
"For the Mahakumbh tragedy, there should be strict punitive action against those responsible and those who have hidden the truth should be punished. We ask the double-engine government, if there was no guilt, then why were the figures suppressed, hidden and erased?" he added.
"Log punye kamane aaye the aur apno ke shav lekar gaye hai (People came to earn merit, but they left with the bodies of their loved ones)" the SP Chief said.
Sharpening his attacks on the Uttar Pradesh government, Akhilesh Yadav said that where proper arrangements should have been made, there was political campaigning instead.
"Political campaigning in a religious gathering, especially with a double-engine government, is disgraceful and condemnable. It was claimed that the Mahakumbh would be conducted digitally and with modern technology. Based on CCTV, drones, and live streaming, those who claimed to be organising a digital Kumbh are unable to even provide digital records of the deceased," he said.
He mentioned that the "miraculous thing" is that the bodies of the devotees were found, but the government was not ready to acknowledge this.
"When information surfaced that some people had lost their lives, what did the government do? They used government helicopters to shower flowers. Is this our Sanatan tradition?" he asked.
"Our Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister didn't even express condolences. When the President and Prime Minister of the country expressed their condolences, the government only accepted it 17 hours later," Yadav said.
After their protest in Parliament over the Mahakumbh stampede, Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav said that 15,000 people have reported their family members have been missing since the incident and that the government is not providing any information.
Speaking to ANI, Yadav recalled that after the 1954 Prayag Kumbh mela stampede, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had spoken in Parliament and given the number of people who had died and those who got injured in the tragedy.
"When there was a big stampede in 1954, on the very first day Jawaharlal Nehru said in the House that 400 people had died and 2,000 were injured. After that the government had said that people come in such large numbers, without giving letters, without advertising and urged no VIPs to visit as it may cause inconvenience to people," Yadav said.
The Samajwadi Party leader said that in contrast, the current Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's administration was busy making arrangements for VIPs and not concerned about the commoners.
"But our Chief Minister is there every day, all the officers are busy there that the VIP lane should be good and they are not concerned whether the common people who visit drown or die...15,000 people are saying that their family members are not being found, the government is not giving any information," the Samajwadi Party MP said.
A united opposition disrupted both houses of Parliament on Monday during the ongoing Budget Session demanding an immediate discussion on the January 29 Mahakumbh stampede claimed the lives of 30 people.
Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav yesterday condemned the state government "for not releasing" the list of people who died due to the stampede in Maha Kumbh during rush coinciding with Mouni Amawasya.
Addressing a rally in Milkipur assembly constituency in Ayodhya which will see bypoll on February 5, Yadav said the government has been releasing daily figures of the number of people who took a holy dip at the Triveni Sangam but has not yet released the list of casualties.
with ANI inputs