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Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan alleged that a coverup was orchestrated to ‘hide’ the actual number of victims who lost their lives in the Maha Kumbh stampede
Prayagraj: Belongings of devotees seen lying at the Sangam following a stampede on ‘Mauni Amavasya’, during the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela, in Prayagraj, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (PTI)
Congress member Ranjeet Ranjan on Tuesday alleged that a coverup was orchestrated to ‘hide’ the actual number of victims who lost their lives in the Maha Kumbh stampede last week while claiming that the BJP-led government plays with the people’s sentiments to come to power.
Participating in the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in the Rajya Sabha, Ranjan said the House shares the grief expressed by President Draupadi Murmu on the loss of lives in the Maha Kumbh stampede.
“I am not criticising you, but it would have been better had we taken Parliament and the country into confidence regarding how many people died,” she said.
Ranjan said the previous Congress-led governments had informed both outside and inside Parliament on exactly how many people perished in the earlier Kumbh Melas.
“You should have taken this as an example. Then why are you hiding it? Because your government plays with the sentiments of people to come to power, which is very sad,” Ranjan said.
Alleging that a coverup was orchestrated to hide the actual number of deaths that took place due to the stampede at Maha Kumbh, the Congress member said the dead bodies were kept locked inside a room for several hours and then sent to the hospital for treatment as ‘injured’.
“You have hidden the hordes of dead bodies in the Maha Kumbh, and I claim that a movie will be made on the same because, for several hours during the night, those bodies were kept in a room and then taken to the hospital as ‘injured’ and from there they were made to disappear… people were forced to sign on documents claiming that those people died a natural death in the Kumbh and not due to the stampede. This is extremely shameful for all of us,” Ranjan said.
Earlier, referring to the lives lost in the Maha Kumbh stampede, Gulam Ali of the BJP (Nominated) said several people have lost their lives through the years at the previous Kumbh Melas and also across the world in places like Mecca-Madina.
“It is very unfortunate that today, we are making an issue of even such things to keep ourselves alive,” Ali said.
Besides, Fauzia Khan, the NCP-SCP claimed that corruption was slowly eating away all our systems.
GK Vasan of the TMC (M) said the President’s speech has laid a road-map for the growth of the nation and government has highlighted its concern for the poor, middle class and farmers.
Ashok Kumar Mittal (AAP) raised the issue of the depreciation of the rupee.
He said imports from China have risen in the last few decades even as we talk about reducing dependence on the country.
Mittal claimed that every second youth in the country is unemployed.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
