‘Gross misgovernance’: Opposition, BJP trade barbs

While the Congress sought a judicial inquiry into the matter, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a statement he made in 2016 when a flyover collapse in Kolkata killed more than 20 people.

The death of over 130 people in a bridge collapse in Gujarat’s Morbi district triggered sharp criticism from opposition parties who alleged “criminal negligence and gross misgovernance” and blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for the accident – charges that the BJP denied.

Members of India's Youth Congress take part in a candlelight march in New Delhi on October 31, 2022, to pay homage to the victims who died after a bridge across the river Machchhu collapsed at Morbi in India's Gujarat state. (AFP)

While the Congress sought a judicial inquiry into the matter, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a statement he made in 2016 when a flyover collapse in Kolkata killed more than 20 people.

Expressing grief over the incident, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge sought an investigation by a retired Supreme Court or high court judge.

“An inquiry headed by a retired Supreme Court or high court judge should be done as to how the bridge collapsed five to six days after it was inaugurated and who allowed so many people there. All necessary help including compensation should be provided to victims,” he said.

Kharge, who took charge as Congress chief last week, said leaders from his party have reached Morbi to offer their assistance.

“Congress leaders have reached there. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot is also reaching there. We will try to help. We do not want to do any politics in this... When the inquiry report comes out, we will see when that happens,” he said.

In a statement, Congress said Kharge has sought a probe into the accident “which prima facie seems to be a case of criminal negligence and gross misgovernance”.

Gehlot also demanded a fair probe into the matter. “The government should do a fair investigation. Good treatment should be provided to the injured and the families of the deceased should be given compensation,” he said.

In a tweet in Hindi, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said former party chief Sonia Gandhi said that the entire nation stands with the families of the victims in their hour of grief and wished a speedy recovery for the injured.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other party workers taking part in the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Telangana observed a two-minute silence in memory of those killed in the tragedy. “I am clear on this, I would not like to politicise a tragedy,” he told reporters.

The TMC targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a statement he made in 2016 after more than 20 people were killed in a flyover collapse in Kolkata.

“In 2016, Modi said the flyover collapse in Kolkata was not an act of God but an act of fraud. We dare him to repeat the exact words in Gujarat. So many people died in Morbi because God cursed the BJP for its nationwide activities,” TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said in Kolkata.

More than 20 people were killed after an under construction flyover collapsed in Kolkata, right before the assembly elections, on March 31, 2016. Days later, while campaigning for the BJP at Madarihat in north Bengal on April 7, the Prime Minister said: “ They say it’s an act of God. Didi, this is not an act of God, this is an act of fraud… It is a message from God to the people that today the bridge has come down and tomorrow Bengal will be finished.”

Several other opposition leaders also targeted Modi after a video of his 2016 remarks went viral on social media on Monday.

“Modi ji, is the Morbi bridge accident an Act of God or Act of Fraud?” senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh tweeted.

“(Morbi incident) Reminds me of the Act of God and Act of fraud speech given by the Prime Minister when a bridge in WB collapsed. Not sharing the video because of his sheer insensitivity , just as insensitive&careless as this,” Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted.

Ghosh also alleged the Gujarat government tried to fudge the toll but a section of the media revealed the truth.

“The BJP sends fact-finding teams whenever an untoward incident takes place. Let it send a fact-finding team to Morbi. Let it say why the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) should not probe the Morbi incident. Let it reveal who was responsible for it and how many will finally face punitive action,” he said.

Reacting to the TMC leader’s charges, BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh said the Gujarat government is looking into the matter.

“The Gujarat government did not construct the bridge. It was repaired recently. People responsible for the incident will be taken to task. The BJP does not send fact finding teams to probe incidents that the local government is capable of handling. The Gujarat government will handle the situation,” he said.

The CPI(M) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said the state government must take responsibility for the accident.

“...the Gujarat government is answerable to various questions arising from this tragedy… Who are the people responsible for this tragedy? The government must be made accountable for this monumental tragedy,” CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury told reporters on the sidelines of the party’s three-day Central Committee meeting in Delhi.

NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto on Monday said the state government must be held responsible for collapse. The Centre must take up the issue seriously and “heads must roll” for the lapses, he said.

BJP spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain alleged the Congress is “rubbing salt on the wounds of Gujarat”.

“The Morbi incident is a very sad incident not only for Gujarat but also for the entire country. Many people have lost their lives. But the Congress party is doing the work of rubbing salt on the wounds of Gujarat in this hour of sorrow,” he told news agency ANI.