Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath orders judicial probe into Hathras stampede after death toll rises to 121; SIT and ADG Agra to investigate deeply

The Opposition cannot listen to replies of questions they raised and can only run away, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today as the Opposition walked out of Rajya Sabha during his reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address.

Opposition MPs led by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge walked out after Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar refused to grant him permission to intervene during the Prime Minister’s address.

The Opposition’s walkout followed the Prime Minister’s swipe at former Congress chief and Rajya Sabha MP Sonia Gandhi. “These people are used to running the government on auto pilot and remote pilot. They don’t believe in working, they just know how to wait,” he said.

The remark was aimed at Mrs Gandhi, who has often been accused by the BJP of running the Manmohan Singh government from behind the scenes.

“But we leave no stone unturned in hard work. We would step up what we did in the last 10 years. Considering what our dreams are, these 10 years were an appetiser. The main course has started now,” the Prime Minister said.

As the Prime Minister, members of the Opposition were heard demanding that Mr Kharge, Leader of the Opposition, be allowed to intervene. Opposition MPs raised slogans of “LOP ko bolne do”. Mr Kharge, too, was heard requesting the Chairman repeatedly for an opportunity to intervene. “We want to put forth our views, please,” the 81-year-old said. The slogans then changed to “jhoot bolna band karo (stop lying)” and “sharm karo (please have shame)”.

Eventually, Mr Dhankhar said that the Opposition’s conduct is not appropriate. “I strongly condemn unparliamentary practice, please take your seats.”

As the slogans continued, the Prime Minister paused his speech on the government’s achievements and said, “Mr Chairman, the country is watching. Those spreading lies do not have the guts to listen to the truth. They cannot sit and listen to the answers to the questions they raised. They are insulting the Upper House, its traditions. The people have defeated them in every way and they don’t have any other option other than shouting in alleys.”

“Sloganeering, shouting and running away, this is their destiny,” the Prime Minister said.

Chairman Dhankhar then said the Opposition’s conduct was “agonising”. “I gave the Leader of the Opposition the opportunity to speak without disruptions. They did not leave the House, they left decorum. They did not turn their backs to me, but to the Constitution. They did not disrespect us, they disrespected the oath they have taken. There cannot be a bigger disrespect of the Constitution. I condemn their conduct.” The Chairman said he hopes the Opposition MPs will “introspect” and return back to the path of duty. 

The Prime Minister today doubled down on his offensive of targeting the Congress over Emergency to counter the Opposition’s Constitution push. “I say with all seriousness that Congress is the biggest opponent of Constitution,” he said. 

Speaking about the 1977 Lok Sabha election, held after the Emergency, the Prime Minister said people of the country had then voted to restore democracy. “There has been no bigger election to protect the Constitution. In 1977, the country showed democracy runs in its veins,” he said. “If the election this year was to defend the Constitution, then the people of the country found us up to it,” the Prime Minister added.

The organisers of a ‘prayer meet’ – held by godman Bhole Baba in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, which ended in a stampede that killed over a hundred – “tried to cover up the incident”, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said after visiting the site. “This will not happen again… there will be SOPs (standard operating protocols)… we will ensure that,” he declared Wednesday.

The Chief Minister said a high-level judicial committee, to be led by a retired High Court judge, will investigate potential lapses, of which several, including questions over permission and a possible lack of crowd control and safety measures, have already been flagged.

“The culprits won’t be spared,” the Chief Minister declared.

NDTV Live | Hathras Stampede Death Count At 121, Hunt On For Godman

“We cannot deny this stampede is not an accident… (but), if not accident, then it was a conspiracy by whom? We will conduct a judicial inquiry under a retired High Court judge.”

Yogi Adityanath confirmed what reports this morning that the stampede had been triggered by a tug-of-war – between parts of the massive crowd pushing to touch the godman’s feet and those trying to leave the venue after the ‘prayer meeting’ was completed. 

“I spoke to some of the witnesses… they said that during the ‘satsang’, when women wanted to touch the godman’s feet, a sea of people pushed forward and security (Bhole Bala’s private detail) pushed back. Then they tried to cover up the issue,” he said.

“And, when people were being taken to hospitals, the security team ran away.”

Children were among 121 crushed to death by a frenzied crowd – by some estimates over 2.5 lakh – in Hathras Tuesday afternoon. The crowd had gathered to attend a ‘satsang’, or ‘prayer meet’, by a Suraj Pal Singh, a self-styled religious leader calling himself Bhole Baba.

Six of the dead were from Haryana, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, while the rest were from various parts of UP, the Chief Minister said today as his government scrambles to identify and arrest the guilty in the face of growing political pressure from the opposition.

Over 30 people were injured and are in hospitals, and are out of danger, he said.

READ | No Emergency Exits, Lack Of Cops: Focus On Stampede Lapses

Meanwhile, tough questions are being asked of local government and police officials, including who permitted such a large rally and why no safety measures were in place.

The police have filed a case against a close aide of Baba Bhole, whose real name is Suraj Pal Singh, and event organisers. The FIR, however, does not mention the godman.

READ | Bhole Baba, Who Held Hathras Event, Faced Sexual Assault Cases

No arrests have been made so far, and state police chief Prashant Kumar was non-committal when asked if Bhole Baba will be arrested, saying, “Action will be taken based on facts.”

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