Mamata Banerjee accuses UP government of hiding actual toll in Maha Kumbh stampede
The West Bengal chief minister alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government created hype about the pilgrimage, but did not ensure proper arrangements.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of hiding the actual toll in the stampede that occurred at the Maha Kumbh pilgrimage site in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj on January 29, reported PTI.
Officials have said that 30 persons were killed and 60 others were injured at the site. However, several media reports have suggested that the actual toll could be significantly higher.
At a press conference held after the state budget was presented in the Assembly, Banerjee claimed that the Uttar Pradesh government initially tried to prevent the media from showing the real extent of the tragedy at the Maha Kumbh.
“So many people died in the Maha Kumbh incident, but they are not releasing the correct death toll,” she said. “They created such hype about the event, yet there were no proper arrangements made at the venue.”
The Trinamool Congress leader questioned the “VIP culture” at the Maha Kumbh, and said that during the Gangasagar Mela held in West Bengal in January, she did not visit the site on the day of the holy dip to avoid inconveniencing the public.
#WATCH | West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee says, "...So many people died in the Maha Kumbh, how much commission was given? How many committees went there...They have not shown the actual report..." pic.twitter.com/btEPAQkEqM
— ANI (@ANI) February 12, 2025
Before Banerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh of hiding the actual toll from the stampede.
He demanded “strict punitive action” against those responsible for the stampede and said that the persons “who have hidden the truth” must be punished. “We ask the double-engine government, if there was no guilt, then why were the figures suppressed, hidden and erased?” he asked.
Samajwadi Party leaders have repeatedly claimed that hundreds of persons went missing following the stampede.
The stampede broke out between 1 am and 2 am on January 29 as a large number of pilgrims arrived to take a holy bath on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya, a spiritually significant day in the Hindu calendar.
The administration had not provided an official toll till nearly 15 hours after the accident. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed his condolences to “the devotees who have lost their loved ones”, even as a senior police official had claimed that no stampede had taken place.
The Maha Kumbh Mela began on January 13 and will end on February 26.
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