Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of hiding the true death toll from the Maha Kumbh stampede in Prayagraj and called for punitive action against those involved in covering up the real numbers.
The stampede, which occurred on Mauni Amavasya, one of the most significant bathing days of the Kumbh, resulted in the deaths of approximately 30 devotees and left over 60 injured.
Speaking during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in Lok Sabha, Yadav said, “The government is deliberately withholding the true numbers. They are freely sharing the Budget figures, but not the details of the Maha Kumbh tragedy. I demand that the government reveal the actual death toll and provide full details regarding the availability of doctors, medicines, and other safety arrangements at the event.”
Yadav further demanded that an all-party meeting be called to discuss the incident and that the Army take over disaster management for future events at the Kumbh. He emphasized the need for transparency and accountability, stating, “The numbers for deaths, treatment of injured, availability of medicines, doctors, food, water, and transport should all be presented in Parliament.”
The SP chief criticized the Yogi Adityanath-led state government for its “poor and inefficient” management of the event, accusing the government of focusing more on publicity than on public safety.
He also claimed that the government had intentionally concealed the severity of the incident, accusing officials of erasing the truth. “If there is no guilt, why were the figures suppressed, hidden, and erased? Erasing the truth is a crime,” Yadav said.
This comes amid allegations from SP MPs that bodies of the deceased were discarded or disposed of in the river in an effort to downplay the disaster’s scale.
