New Delhi: A day after a bridge collapsed in Gujarat, the Congress on Thursday claimed that 16 such incidents took place in the state in the last four years and demanded an SIT to probe them, threatening to take to the streets if its demand is not met.
Seeking the resignation of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, the opposition party also slammed the BJP over the bridge collapse in Vadodara district, alleging its leadership and government have crossed all limits of indifference as they remain busy in making speeches and issuing advertisements in the name of governance.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that there was a leadership crisis, corruption all around and incompetence prevailing under the BJP rule, and asserted that the people would give a befitting reply when the time comes.
At least 15 people were killed as several vehicles plunged into the Mahisagar river after a portion of a four-decade-old bridge collapsed in Vadodara district on Wednesday morning.
A slab of the Gambhira-Mujpur bridge, which connects central Gujarat to the Saurashtra region of the state, collapsed at around 7 am on Wednesday. This caused the vehicles passing through the bridge to plunge into the river.
“Accidents have become a common thing in the country. Sometimes a train accident, sometimes a bridge developing cracks soon after inauguration. The country has not yet recovered from the plane crash and yesterday the news of a bridge collapse came from Gujarat,” Kharge said in a post on X in Hindi.
“We have deep condolences for the families of the victims,” he said.
Three years ago it was said that the situation was “dangerous” due to “vibrations” in the bridge but still nothing was done, the Congress chief said, citing media reports.
This is the seventh incident of bridge collapse in Gujarat since 2021, he said.
“The BJP leadership and government have crossed all limits of indifference as they remain busy only in making speeches and issuing advertisements in the name of ‘governance’ in the whole country,” Kharge said.
“This is the result of leadership crisis, corruption all around, lack of ability to run the government, and incompetence,” he alleged.
It is hoped that the people of the country are seeing this and will give a befitting reply to it when the time comes,
Kharge added.