Abhishek slams Yogi govt over Kumbh stampede, calls it ‘all publicity, no preparation’

Kolkata: Following the stampede at Maha Kumbh that claimed many lives, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Friday lashed out at the Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government, alleging that it was “all publicity and no preparation”.

He also termed the incident as “most tragic” while speaking to the reporters at Calcutta Airport.

Banerjee also accused the Yogi government of suppressing the actual death toll.

“They have not been able to confirm the death count till now. I have spoken to journalists on the ground and I will not be surprised if the actual toll is over 100. No arrangements were made for the poor people. Special arrangements were made for the industrialists,” Banerjee thundered at the Yogi government.

Banerjee also accused the Maha Kumbh organisers of “diverting all arrangements for the VIPs instead of the millions of poor visiting the mela”. He also highlighted the Bengal government’s “contrasting” focus areas while organising the annual congregation at Gangasagar Mela.

“Millions of elderly people visit the Kumbh Mela but they only care about VIPs and the rich. They vacate areas whenever leaders visit the place. I hope they learn their lessons from such an incident but I have serious doubts on whether they will,” he claimed. The Diamond Harbour MP also said that if such an incident had happened in any non-BJP-ruled states, they would have called for President’s rule by now. “It is an unfortunate incident. I would expect that the BJP will take lessons from this incident. But they don’t take any lessons from any incidents. They think that they have purchased the entire country,” Banerjee said adding “As a huge number of people were to go to Maha Kumbh, minimum arrangements should have been made. There was a lack of planning and arrangements, only advertisements.”

“The government there is all focused on publicity and marketing of the Kumbh rather than making adequate preparations,” Banerjee further added.