‘Bodies dumped in JCB machines’: Akhilesh Yadav’s Maha Kumbh stampede speech in Lok Sabha

Chandigarh , Feb, 04
Bodies were filled in JCB machines and tractors, and no one knows where they went, alleged former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav while speaking in Lok Sabha on Maha Kumbh stampede.
Yadav said: “When it was known that some people had lost their lives, their bodies were lying in the mortuary and in the hospital, then the govt filled their government helicopter with flowers and showered flower petals. What kind of Sanatani tradition is this?… God knows how many slippers, clothes, and sarees were lying there and they lifted all of them using JCB machines and tractor trolleys. Nobody knows where they were thrown. To hide everything, it is heard that some pressure and some sweeteners are being given so that their news does not come out…”
The SP leader’s statement could spark a controversy ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Prayagraj on Wednesday.
Yadav demanded transparency regarding the fatalities at the Maha Kumbh stampede, urging the government to present accurate figures on the deaths, treatment of the injured, and arrangements made for the event.
He also called for an all-party meeting to clarify the situation and recommended that disaster management and the lost and found centre be handed over to the Army.
“While the government is continuously giving budget figures, please also give the figures of those who died in Mahakumbh. I demand an all-party meeting should be called to give clarification about the arrangements for Mahakumbh. The responsibility of Mahakumbh disaster management and lost and found centre should be given to the Army. The figures for the deaths in Mahakumbh accident, treatment of injured, availability of medicines, doctors, food, water, transport should be presented in the Parliament,” he said.
Yadav also pressed for strict punitive action against those responsible for the tragedy and those who concealed the facts, questioning the government’s decision to suppress the numbers.
“For the Mahakumbh tragedy, there should be strict punitive action against those responsible and those who have hidden the truth should be punished. We ask the double-engine government, if there was no guilt, then why were the figures suppressed, hidden and erased?” he added.
“Log punye kamane aaye the aur apno ke shav lekar gaye hai (People came to earn merit, but they left with the bodies of their loved ones)” the SP Chief said.