Govt tried to cover up Delhi stampede, Railway minister should resign: TMC

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress leaders on Sunday accused the Centre of trying to cover up the stampede at the New Delhi Railway station, and demanded that Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw be sacked.

In a post on X, TMC Rajya Sabha deputy leader Sagarika Ghose accused the government of "callously playing with the lives of Indian citizens" and called it "tragic beyond words".

"First Narendra Modi and his BJP deny any stampede. Then they call it a rumour. Then they admit a 'few people' 'injured'. Then BJP is forced accept a 'few' "may have" died," Ghose said in a post on X.

"The jumla party and its jumla government keeps covering up deaths and tragedy again and again and callously playing with the lives of Indian citizens. The 'minimum governance, maximum publicity' mantra of the Modi government is again exposed by the shocking New Delhi station stampede.Tragic beyond words," she said.

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale demanded that Vaishnaw should either be sacked or resign, as he slammed the Railways for trying to "cover up" the incident.

"Extremely shocked to hear about the deaths of 17 people and injuries sustained by many during the tragic stampede at New Delhi Railway Station last night. My condolences to the families of the deceased and praying for a swift recovery of those injured," Gokhale said in a post on X.

"For hours after the stampede, Railways kept denying it and said it 'was a rumour'. This was a brazen attempt at cover-up until the bodies started showing up," he said.

"Modi's part-time Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, yet again, has blood on his hands," he charged.

"If Mr Vaishnaw has any sense of responsibility, he must resign. If PM Modi has even an iota of shame or concern for people's lives, he must sack Ashwini Vaishnaw immediately," he said.

"Heads must roll! Lives of India cannot be treated so cheaply," he said.

The TMC MP said this is the second Kumbh related stampede, and accused the Uttar Pradesh government of making the Kumbh Mela a "PR activity".

"This is a disaster that was preventable - we have been seeing images and videos every day of extremely crowded trains going to Prayagraj with Kumbh pilgrims. The sacred Kumbh Mela has been turned into a PR activity by the Modi and Yogi Government," he said.

Noting that this is the second case of deaths due to Kumbh-related stampedes, he said millions of people have been encouraged to rush to Prayagraj without making arrangements for logistics or their safety.

He added the situation of Indian Railways has been worsening everyday.

"There have been an increasing number of deaths on Indian Railways and the situation continues to worsen every day. And yet, the minister prefers to share video reels than address the problems of safety and overcrowding," he said.

At least 18 people were killed and more than a dozen injured in the stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday night.