⛄According to railway officials, the incident occurred after several passengers slipped and fell while descending from a foot over-bridge. The stampede ensued as more individuals fell, causing a tragic surge in the crowd which ultimately led to 18 deaths.
𓆉A deadly stampede at New Delhi Railway Station claimed the lives of 18 people and left more than a dozen others injured on Saturday night. The chaos unfolded at a time when the station was packed with passengers heading to Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh.
🐠According to railway officials, the incident occurred after several passengers slipped and fell while descending from a foot over-bridge. The stampede ensued as more individuals fell, causing a tragic surge in the crowd. The incident was exacerbated by overcrowding, as the station witnessed a massive influx of pilgrims travelling to the Kumbh Mela.
🀅The tragic incident has sparked an outpouring of reactions from political leaders, with accusations of mismanagement and negligence from both opposition parties and their leaders
BJP leaders, however, refrained from politicising the tragedy. Senior BJP ꦚleader Anil Alok responded to the opposition’s criticism by saying, “This is not the time to do politics. Some people are spoilt by their habits... they just want to point out the faults of the administration.” Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva, along with other senior leaders, cancelled all their political programs for the day to mourn the loss of lives and express solidarity with the families affected by the tragedy.
Let’s take a look at how the opposition reacted:
- Delhi Congress 🍌chief Devender Yadav has called for a thorough investigation into the tragic event. In a statement, Yadav expressed his condolences, stating, “This is a very sad incident for all of us. We stand with the families of those who lost their lives.” He also criticised the lack of preparedness at the station and demanded that the government announce aid for the victims’ families. “People lost their lives in the stampede due to a lack of arrangements,” Yadav alleged.
ܫ- Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress party, echoed similar sentiments, condemning the government and the railway administration for their failure to anticipate the massive crowd at the station. In a statement, he expressed his condolences and lamented the loss of lives. "This incident once again highlights the failure of the Railways and the insensitivity of the government," Gandhi said, emphasizing that better arrangements should have been made, particularly given the ongoing Maha Kumbh. He urged the government to ensure that such incidents do not happen in the future.
𒈔- Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also shared her grief over the tragedy, calling the loss of life “extremely sad.” In her message, she expressed her deepest condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the swift recovery of the injured. “The news of the death of many people including women and children in the stampede due to the crowd at New Delhi Railway Station is extremely sad,” she said, underlining the need for better crowd management, particularly during large-scale events like the Maha Kumbh.
ꦍ- Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal raised serious concerns about the handling of the situation by the government. Referring to the incident as a “massive calamity,” he questioned the government’s competence. “Why were crowd control measures not in place? Why did the Railways not run special trains when they knew this crowd was to be anticipated due to the Mahakumbh?” Venugopal demanded, accusing the government of failing to prevent the disaster despite the obvious surge in passengers.
ꩵ- Former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav joined the chorus of criticism, calling for the resignation of the current Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Yadav condemned the government’s handling of the situation and demanded accountability for the tragedy. His call for resignation highlights the widespread frustration over the government’s inability to manage the crisis effectively.
ꦗ- Indian Youth Congress (IYC) President Uday Bhanu Chib was outspoken in his condemnation of the government. Taking to social media, he criticised Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for downplaying the gravity of the situation. “So many people died, there was chaos at New Delhi Railway Station. But the Railway minister kept saying that the situation was normal. This is not an accident, it is a murder committed by the government machinery,” Chib posted on X. He further demanded Vaishnaw’s resignation, calling for accountability at the highest levels of the government.
- Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders also joined in the chorus of criticism, accusing the government of attempting to cover up the tragedy. TMC Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader Sagarika Ghose slammed the government for initially denying the stampede. "First Narendra Modi ♍and his BJP deny any stampede. Then they call it a rumour. Then they admit a ‘few people’ were injured. Then the BJP is forced to accept a ‘few may have’ died,” Ghose wrote on X.
🍎She called the situation “tragic beyond words” and accused the Modi government of carelessly playing with the lives of Indian citizens.
🌜- TMC Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale went further, demanding the resignation or dismissal of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. "For hours after the stampede, Railways kept denying it and said it was a ‘rumor.’ This was a brazen attempt at cover-up until the bodies started showing up,” Gokhale stated.
✤He went on to call for immediate action, accusing the government of turning the sacred Kumbh Mela into a “PR activity” without adequate safety measures. “If Mr Vaishnaw has any sense of responsibility, he must resign. If PM Modi has even an iota of shame, he must sack Ashwini Vaishnaw immediately,” Gokhale demanded.
𒅌- Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed his condolences and called the deaths “extremely sad and painful.” He, too, pointed to the lack of preparedness in handling the massive crowd of devotees heading to Prayagraj. Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also criticized the central government for its failure to manage the crisis effectively. AAP leader Raghav Chadha highlighted that the party had raised concerns in Parliament about the need for better crowd management at railway stations, only for those warnings to be ignored.
༺- Raghav Chadha, AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP, called the stampede a “glaring example of gross mismanagement” and emphasised that it could have been prevented. "On February 11, I had raised this issue in Parliament, warning about the urgent need for better management protocols at railway stations, but the government ignored it,” Chadha posted on X. He demanded accountability for those responsible for the tragedy and called for urgent reforms to prevent similar incidents in the future.