The Opposition parties on Saturday demanded resignations of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath and state Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh following the death of 63 children at Baba Raghav Das Medical College and Hospital in Gorakhpur. The children are believed to have died after an alleged oxygen supply failure in the ward.

“Considering he [Adityanath] is both the MP and the chief minister, he must take moral responsibility and step down, and so should the health minister [Siddharth Nath Singh],” Congress leader Manish Tewari told ANI.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said Adityanath should apologise for the incident as it took place in his Lok Sabha constituency. “He cannot back away from this responsibility…The doctors of this hospital are not at fault,” Azad said on Saturday. Earlier, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said she was “pained beyond words” by the tragedy while party Vice President Rahul Gandhi had held the state government responsible for the incident.

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said a Samajwadi Party delegation will visit the hospital. “The government is not doing their job, they are busy hounding Samajwadi Party workers…The government is trying to run away from responsibilities,” he said. Another Samajwadi Party leader, Ram Gopal Yadav, demanded compensation for the families of the children who died. “Free medicine must be provided to poor families across UP,” he added.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati also said that a three-member team will visit the hospital and update her on the current situation. “The Uttar Pradesh government cannot be criticised enough for this tragic incident,” she said at a press conference.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Medical Education Minister Ashutosh Tandon and Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh held a meeting with BRD Medical College authorities on Saturday, ANI reported. Union Health Minister JP Nadda also directed Minister of State Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel to visit Gorakhpur, and take stock of the situation.