Opposition members raise Kumbh stampede issue in Rajya Sabha, question Maharashtra assembly polls

New Delhi: Several Opposition members in Rajya Sabha raised the issue of the stampede at Maha Kumbh and demanded that the government should share the number of deceased and injured in the accident to compensate them for their loss.

During the discussion on motion of thanks on the President's address, Samajwadi Party (SP) member Javed Ali Khan thanked the President for expressing grief in the first paragraph of speech on the accident that took place in Prayagraj.

"The UP government has not been able to accurately estimate the number of deceased and injured people," Khan said.

He said the UP government should take responsibility for the situation in Kumbh and give the actual number of deceased.

He said the government could create a centre, open a website and issue a number to report whose kith and kin are missing. But this work should not be done either by the Centre or the state government, the task should be handed over to the Army, he added.

Shiv Sena (UBT) member Priyanka Chaturvedi in her opening comments paid homage to devotees who lost their lives in the stampede and those who were injured.

"How many people were there? We don't know but there is a report that thousands of people are lost. Their name is among the missing. Hope that the UP government will share a list of 30 names before the public," she said.

Chaturvedi expressed concerns about the role of CBI, ED, Income Tax and said another matter of concern is that the Election Commission has been tagged along with them.

"I am expressing concern and not levelling any allegation. It is a very important part of our democracy and future generations will not forgive us if we don't discuss it in Parliament,' she said.

Chaturvedi said people in Maharashtra have doubts in their minds based on results that have come between Lok Sabha and assembly elections based on differences in voters, voting percentage and voter addition.

She said 72 lakh registered voters may not have voted in Lok Sabha but came out and voted in the assembly elections.

She said misuse of elections by those in power hurts electoral democracy.

"We all have seen the blessing of Sai Baba, seen miracles. Shirdi is famous worldwide. I don't want to blame the Election Commission but in one building 7,000 voters were registered. Where did they come from? Who did their verification? It is a matter of discussion," Chaturvedi said.

She said there was a 7.83 per cent voter turnout in the last hour in Maharashtra which in absolute numbers translates into 76 lakh voters voting in the last hour.

Talking about the economy, she said corporate profits are 15 years high, but the income of the middle class has been stagnant.

"Those who have been seriously hurt are self-employed. Self-employed citizens who are honest taxpayers of this country. Thirty-eight per cent is declining in their income.

"There was no discussion about them. The difference between haves and have-nots is visible in these data which was not mentioned by the President," Chaturvedi said.

She alleged that 40 per cent of even government bids are awarded to foreign companies by flouting Make in India norms.

SP member Ramji Lal Suman said the government is not addressing the issues of the farmers. He said the MSP (minimum support price) committee has no representation of farmers. Suman also demanded that loans of Indian farmers should be waived.

BJP's Rekha Sharma delivered her maiden speech attacking the UPA government. She said the main difference between the UPA government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is that UPA made schemes only on paper, but the money of the Modi government's schemes goes directly into the accounts of people through DBT.

She said the Modi-led government takes decisions and takes them fast, even tough ones like the abrogation of Article 370 which opposition members thought would never happen.

JDU member Sanjay Kumar Singh, CPI(M) member V Sivadasan, RLM member Upendra Kushwaha, BJP members Nabam Rebia and Kesridevsinh Jhala also participated in the discussion.