After Friday’s stampede at the Gandhi Maidan here in which 33 people lost their lives and several were injured, political parties and their leaders blamed each other for the incident. There was a continuous stream of political leaders at the Patna Medical College and Hospital on Saturday, causing great hardship to the relatives of the victims and the medical staff.
While Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi visited the hospital eight hours after the incident, State Health Minister Ramdhani Singh reached there 15 hours later. The Health Minister was booed and heckled at the hospital.
“It seems the incident happened because of some rumour… I’ve ordered an investigation and action will be taken against those found responsible for the lapse,” the Chief Minister said.
Later, a delegation of State BJP leaders including State party chief Mangal Pandey and others visited the hospital and blamed the State government for its ‘failure on all fronts’.
“We don’t think there is any government functioning in the State today… the present Chief Minister has nothing in his capacity to take any decision… he is a remote-controlled Chief Minister,” charged Mr. Nand Kishore Yadav.
The BJP held a condolence meeting at the site of the stampede, Ram Ghulam Chowk later on Saturday evening. A Congress delegation led by party leader Madan Mohan Jha also visited the hospital.
He told media persons that it appeared to be a case of administrative failure and demanded a through probe into the incident by the government.
A group of Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders led by State party president Ram Chandra Purbey and Rajniti Prasad followed and demanded stern action against those found guilty in the investigation.
“It’s a tragic incident and responsibilities should be fixed for the lapses, if any. We’re supporting the government, but that doesn’t mean that we’ll tolerate such human tragedies,” said senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad, recuperating in Delhi after his heart surgery, tweeted: “The stampede appeared to be a matter of administrative lapse and stern action should be taken against officials found guilty. I am keeping a watch over the event.”
Lok Janshakti Party chief and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and his son Chirag Paswan too reached the PMCH and demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister for the “complete administrative failure”.
