New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday restrained from playing a blame game over the Sunday Gujarat bridge tragedy that killed over 141 people but demanded a probe by a retired judge to fix responsibility over the lapse.
“We don’t want to play politics over the incident. We don’t want to blame anyone for the tragedy at this point. The time to do that will be when the probe report comes,” Kharge said. “However, there should be a probe by a retired high court or Supreme Court judge into the cause of the incident.
The responsibility needs to be fixed so that such incidents are prevented in the future. Prima facie this seems to be a case of criminal negligence and gross misgovernance,” he said. Kharge, who took feedback over the tragedy from Rajasthan chief minister and the AICC observer for the state on Sunday night, on Monday asked the veteran to visit Morbi, where the bridge collapse took place, along with senior Gujarat leaders.
Kharge asked the party workers to provide relief to those affected by the incident. To express solidarity with the people, the Congress canceled the five state-wide Parivartan Sankalp yatras that the party had planned to launch on October 31 along with all the campaign-related programs lined up for Monday. Gujarat unit chief Jagdish Thakor said the five yatras will be launched on November 1.
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Former party chief Rahul Gandhi along with communications in charge Jairam Ramesh and several senior leaders observed a two-minute silence before the start of the Bharat Jodo yatra in Telangana as a mark of respect for those who lost their lives in the tragedy, while former party chief Sonia Gandhi expressed grief at the shocking incident.
However, even as the new Congress chief showed restraint, AICC media head Pawan Khera slammed the state government over the incident and demanded sacking of chief minister Bhupendra Patel.
“The chief minister must be sacked immediately over the incident. Isn’t it strange that the contract for the repair and operation of the 100-year-old suspension bridge was given to a company that manufactures CFL bulbs, mosquito-killing racquets, and wall clocks. The corrupt BJP government did this…which minister or official is responsible for giving the contract to such a company, Khera said in the capital Ahmedabad.
“There is corruption in the state government and people do not want to see any more deaths. The state government ignored the safety standards before throwing open the bridge for the public due to the poll season. Was there an audit report? The private company just wanted to earn money and allowed several times more people as the ticket is only Rs 17. Did the bridge have a fitness certificate and why were 500 people allowed when the bridge capacity is only 100,” he said.
