Congress General Secretary Randeep Surjewala said on Monday that the Puri Rath Yatra should decide accountability for the loss of life and property in the stampede and steps should be taken for the nationwide standard protocols for the mob management and the establishment of mob safety work by the states.
Surjewala claimed that the incident reveals some “unforgivable failures” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Odisha. He posted on ‘X’, “The Odisha government failed to make enough police or security arrangements. The ambulance was parked a kilometer away. There was no stretcher available and the injured had to be taken in their hands. Two trucks were allowed to arrive before Lord Jagannath’s chariot. As a result, many devotees got hit and fell.
Surjewala said, “Arrangements tell the story of disturbances, VIP entry is a major factor, lack of security protocols and political and administrative leadership failure. The simple question is whether we are learning from mistakes. ”
He said that accountability should be fixed in the case of Puri and steps should be taken like setting up nationwide standard protocols for mob management and establishing mob safety work force.
At least three people were killed and around 50 others were injured in a stampede near Sri Gundicha temple in Puri, Odisha on Sunday. Officials said the incident occurred at around 4.20 am when thousands of devotees gathered near the temple to watch the Rath Yatra festival.
