Figures of Kumbh deaths more important than Budget figures: Akhilesh Yadav

New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) Budget figures mean nothing when the government is unable to provide the numbers of those who died or are missing in the Maha Kumbh stampede, Samajwadi Party chief and Lok Sabha MP Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday.

Asked about his reaction to the Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the SP leader targeted the BJP governments in the state and Centre, saying he was more interested in the figures related to the tragedy at the Maha Kumbh that is underway in Prayagraj of Uttar Pradesh.

"The government is unable to provide the numbers of those who lost their lives. People are looking for their family members, they are going around with photos of their loved ones..." Yadav told reporters outside Parliament.

"The (state) government took more than 70 hours to say there has been a stampede and people have lost their lives. It has been over 100 hours now," he said.

According to official figures, 30 people died and at least 60 were injured in the stampede on Mauni Amavasya.

How would India become a developed nation when even an event like Kumbh can't be managed, he said.

"People have been unable to take a dip at Sangam. Those who used to talk about Digital India -- there are hundreds of cameras, drones -- does the government not have figures for those who died? People who went to Ayodhya, Banaras, could not get 'darshan'..." he said.

"They have no perspective about the population of the country and the kind of infrastructure required for an event of this proportion. They publicised that they have made great arrangements at Kumbh... They said 10 crore people took a dip but don't have the number of how many have died," said Yadav.

"They claim to be a party of the Hindus but are unable to hold the biggest festival of Hindus - Maha Kumbh," he said.

"Hindus have lost their lives. If they are not worried about them, people understand that there can't be a more anti-Hindu government," he added.

Yadav demanded that an all-party meeting should be called over the issue, and the Army should be put in-charge of the "lost and found".

"The defence minister and home minister took a dip (at the Kumbh). All industrialists and famous personalities were invited," he said. Yadav has previously alleged that the arrangements for VIPs were a hindrance to access for common devotees.

"We are also demanding that if there was a shortage of budget (for the Kumbh), the Centre should give more money. I demand that lost and found should be handled by the Army. We cannot trust the Uttar Pradesh government," he added.

The stampede at Maha Kumbh echoed in Lok Sabha on Saturday, with Opposition MPs raising slogans and demanding answers from the government soon after the House met.

While Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman initially read her speech amid sloganeering, Opposition MPs, barring the Trinamool Congress, staged a brief walkout from the House over the issue, even as they returned within minutes. PTI AO AO SKY SKY

Source: PTI