A massive political showdown has erupted over the stampede at New Delhi railway station that killed 18 people heading to Kumbh Mela.
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00:00Mahakumbh, Mahamesh, Mahapolitics.
00:07In the sea of faith was there an attempt to cover up incompetence.
00:12Allegations of Operation Whitewash over the Delhi Stampede.
00:15Many lapses led to the loss of 18 lives.
00:21Lapse 1.
00:22Overselling tickets.
00:241500 general or unreserved tickets to Prayagraj were being sold every hour on Saturday.
00:30This, when all trains to Prayagraj were fully booked and waitlisted.
00:38Lapse 2.
00:39Overcrowding due to delayed trains for Prayagraj.
00:46Lapse 3.
00:47Miscommunication which led to panic.
00:51To meet the rush, the railways announced a Prayagraj special.
00:56Special train announcements are typically made well in advance, however, this one was
01:01done abruptly, without prior notice, causing panic.
01:07Lapse 4.
01:08Two trains to the Kumbh city had similar names, Prayagraj Express and Prayagraj Special,
01:14which was announced without prior notice.
01:17This led to confusion amongst passengers who did not know which train was theirs.
01:25Lapse 5.
01:26More than 70% of the Railway Protection Force personnel deployed at the New Delhi Railway
01:32Station was sent to Prayagraj for crowd management.
01:37Lapse 6.
01:39An attempt to hide, deflect and delay.
01:42This was the Executive Director, Railways, addressing the press when hospitals had already
01:48confirmed news of deaths.
01:51Lapse 7.
02:13The Delhi Lieutenant Governor, Vinay Kumar Saxena first tweeted out news of deaths, then
02:19edited his own tweet, deleting deaths confirmation.
02:49Lapse 8.
02:53The Kumbh politics now peaking, Manta Banerjee speaking in the West Bengal Assembly, called
02:59the Kumbh, Mrityu Kumbh, in reference to the stampede related deaths, criticising Chief
03:05Minister Yogi Adityanath for providing special treatments to VVIPs, while neglecting the
03:11poor.
03:13Lapse 9.
03:43Meanwhile, the NGT has raised concerns about rising faecal bacteria levels in the Ganga
03:49at Prayagraj.
03:51The report filed on February 3rd indicates a significant rise in faecal coliform bacteria
03:58during the Kumbh Mela.
03:59NGT has now asked Yogi government to explain measures taken in response to the rising pollution
04:05levels.
04:07Lapse 10.
04:37Politics on that as well.
04:40Top focus on To The Point this evening.
05:36Opposition alleges a whitewash to try and cover up what went down.
05:41We'll also bring in all the politics that's coming in.
05:43One, just a short while back, in the Assembly of West Bengal, Manta Banerjee labelled the
05:50Maha Kumbh as a Mrityu Kumbh because of the number of people who've died during the
05:57Maha Kumbh celebrations.
05:59On the other hand, you've had the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh blame
06:04the current Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for what he called was pollution levels at
06:10the back of the NGT report which says very high faecal levels where it came down to the
06:17Ganga at Prayagraj.
06:19Let's cut across right now to our guests this evening.
06:21Reena Gupta, National Spokesperson, Aam Aadmi Party.
06:24Tuhin Sinha, National Spokesperson, Bharatiya Janata Party.
06:27Bhavya Narsimha Murthy, National Spokesperson, Congress.
06:31Sagar Chatterjee, General Secretary, Bangla Pakho.
06:34Tuhin Sinha, you know, a couple of things.
06:37Let's hark back.
06:38We'll get on to the politics of it, but just basic questions that need to be asked and
06:42I'm sure you will hear them out with what happened at the Delhi railway station and
06:48the stampede that took place on Saturday night.
06:50Tuhin Sinha, you know, would you reckon that somewhere down the line there has been an
06:55attempt maybe to cover up to the extent, or was an attempt, which of course could not
07:00be hidden and there are a number of indications to it.
07:03There have been lapses, grave lapses, heads need to roll, but when I tell you why there
07:08was an attempt, you had the PRO of the railways speak to India today at about 12.50 at night
07:17saying there were only a few people who had fainted, there were no casualties.
07:23All of this while Tuhin Sinha, the three hospitals where the bodies were taken into were already
07:29confirming the number of deaths.
07:31Number two, would you think it's responsible for the Delhi Lieutenant Governor to tweet
07:35out news of death and then immediately edit it and seem to suggest that there were no
07:40deaths that had taken place?
07:41The lapses, on the other hand, are glaring.
07:44Good evening, Preeti, good evening, everybody.
07:47Two questions, two broad questions.
07:49Has there been a lapse?
07:51Yes.
07:52From all accounts that are now coming out, that have come out in the last couple of days,
07:55there have been glaring, glaring lapses.
07:58Number two, was there any attempt to hide the truth?
08:00No, there was absolutely no attempt to hide the truth.
08:04The Lieutenant Governor had tweeted around 15 deaths by midnight on that day.
08:09The only reason one can delete is when one feels that the figure may not be authentic
08:15and you have to give him the benefit of doubt.
08:17By morning, we came to know there were 18 deaths.
08:20So broadly, there were three additions, which happens in an evolving situation.
08:24I don't think we should suspect everybody over here.
08:27If the certain PRO at midnight has said there were no deaths, obviously, in the two-member
08:33committee which has been formed and which is investigating all aspects, his role will
08:37also be probed.
08:38Was there a 40-minute delay in sounding out the fire brigade?
08:42That will also be probed.
08:43But I don't think there has been any attempt at hiding anything.
08:48More than 3,000 special trains have ferried passengers in the last five weeks.
08:52Yes, this particular episode involving confusion and chaos at the New Delhi station is extremely
09:01anguishing, but we will come to the bottom of it very soon and action will be taken,
09:05accountability will be held.
09:07As far as the change of platform is concerned, I think all railway authorities have been
09:14very consistent on that.
09:15There was no change of platform, but yes, there were two special trains and they could
09:20have been, you know, they could have been better informed, the people could have been
09:25better informed, whether there was confusion created by, you know, the announcement.
09:31That is again a subject matter of investigation right now.
09:34All right.
09:35You know, we're going to come back to Tohincinar.
09:38Fair point you've raised.
09:39Also the tweet by the railway minister, Ashwini Vaishnav, who seemed to suggest that there
09:44was unprecedented crowds.
09:46You know, Tohincinar, many would think that what is unexpected, unprecedented would be
09:51possibly the earthquake that took place and not, you know, crowd surge at the railway
09:56station where we already know crores are coming in from all across the country to go in for
10:01the holy dip.
10:02So that should have been management.
10:04That's not unprecedented or unexpected.
10:06That's bad management.
10:07I'll come back to you, sir.
10:08Allow me to, allow me to get in order, I guess, and then we'll come back to you.
10:11Just 20 seconds.
10:12Just 20 seconds.
10:13Make your point.
10:14I think the crowd management, which was put in place immediately after that, the next
10:18day should have ideally put in, been put in place much before.
10:21And for that, again, like I said, the role of officials, whether they were cognizant
10:25of the, you know, of the handling of the crowd, all of that is a subject matter of investigation
10:30right now.
10:31Okay.
10:32All right.
10:33If heads will roll and to what level will they roll is the big question.
10:36And trust us, we'd be keenly following that.
10:38Veena Gupta, I want to bring you in.
10:40Why the politicization of it?
10:42Where you had your government in Delhi at the back of it, now suddenly there is an incident,
10:48which is tragic that has taken place and the Aam Aadmi Party has jumped as vultures to
10:52try and politicize it.
10:53Why politicize it?
10:54That's the allegation by the BJP.
10:56Preeti, this is the most, Bharatiya Janata Party government at the center is the most
11:02incompetent government we've had in the history of our country.
11:06And on top of that, they're also very, very brazen.
11:09When you ask them questions, they'll start calling you anti-Hindu, they'll call you anti-Sanatani.
11:17You're saying why there is such mismanagement in the Kumbh Mela?
11:21Again, you're not allowed to ask questions.
11:24This is not the first time that there has been such an accident in the railways.
11:31I'm just looking at in last 12 months, Preeti, there have been accidents in Pushpak Express,
11:38Surya Nagar Express, there was an accident in Kozhikode, Balasore, we lost 300 people.
11:44In Bangalore, Chennai Express, there was an accident.
11:47So this is not the first mishap happening.
11:50It's accidents after accidents after accidents.
11:53And what has the government done?
11:55Nothing.
11:56They will always find somebody to blame, itne log kyu pahuj gaye waha pe?
12:00On one end, they will advertise the event and they will invite everybody to come.
12:05Their own ministers brazenly, Mr. Nishant from UP is saying, itni badi event hoti hai
12:11toh choti moti durghatna toh ho jati hai.
12:14Another minister is saying ki itne saare log kyu pahuj gaye?
12:16As if people going there is the fault of the people, not the fault of the government.
12:22So this government is incompetent, they are brazen.
12:27Why is nobody's head rolling?
12:29Has anybody been suspended?
12:30Why is the Railway Minister not resigning?
12:33This is not the first time.
12:34I mean, it's accidents after accidents, who will take responsibility?
12:39It's the responsibility of the people of this country, then why are they showing up in such
12:43big numbers?
12:44All right, Bhavya, I want to go back to Bhavya Narsimha Murthy, National Spokesperson, Congress.
12:52Bhavya, the Congress has come out in full strength, especially the Youth Congress Wing
12:56in Delhi, to protest what they allege is an Operation Whitewash at the Delhi Railway Station
13:02with the stampede that took place.
13:04Many are also alleging, Bhavya, that all of this is just pure politicization, a tragic
13:08accident takes place and the Congress jumps in, like the Aam Aadmi Party, to milk it politically.
13:14Accidents happen, it's how they are managed.
13:18Accidents happen?
13:19You think this was just another accident and they were completely equipped to handle this
13:26crowd?
13:27I'll tell you how many the CCTV cameras, they are defective, there are narrow staircases,
13:34the whole station was not equipped for thousands of passengers here.
13:39And the RPF, the Railway Protective Force, they announced two, three Kumbh Mela trains
13:45within 12 minutes, due to which this stampede started.
13:52Instead of saying that the opposition or Congress is milking it politically, politicizing it,
14:00why doesn't this Railway Minister resign?
14:03Shouldn't he have any ounce of ethics?
14:05Shouldn't he take some ethical responsibility?
14:08He didn't do that in the past, so many accidents happen, that didn't happen.
14:12Come on, Narendra Modi's cabinet, almost every minister is shameless in that manner, starting
14:17from demonetization to COVID handling, people died, people, migrants died walking hundreds
14:24of kilometers on foot, but they didn't have numbers.
14:28Kumbh Mela stampede happened recently, they don't have numbers.
14:32Now, Railway Minister doesn't want to even resign, when in New Delhi railway station,
14:39this big number of deaths happened and they don't even care and they're saying we're politicizing.
14:45No, we are speaking for the people, the poor people and yeah, aren't they all Hindus again?
14:50Oh, poor Hindus value, their lives don't value to you, right?
14:55Kumbh Mela who died in the stampede, the Hindus died.
14:59So you people are killing Hindus then.
15:01You don't care about the lives of Hindus then.
15:04I honestly believe the minute, the minute the Railway Minister takes the responsibility
15:09and resigns, that's when you can, after that, if we speak about it, and every office...
15:17Ma'am, there's a problem with your audio, we're going to try and fix it anyway, I need
15:20to go to Garga Chatterjee.
15:22Garga Chatterjee, Mamata Banerjee using the state assembly to label the current Mahakumbh
15:28as Mrityu Kumbh.
15:30Is it going a bit far?
15:32Because some suggest that this is on the ongoing battle that Mamata Banerjee is fighting within
15:37West Bengal when it comes down to the communal tug pulling, especially after Saraswati Puja.
15:47So I am a Hindu Bengali in West Bengal, and we have very large festivals here.
15:55Very recently Ganga Sagar Mela happened, where crores of people came.
16:01When I looked at these visuals, the first phase of the Kumbh Mela, and then the shocking
16:08scenes which came thereafter, the first thing which struck me was, what is this VIP range,
16:15VIP area for reaching gods?
16:19And for everything from Adani to Amit Shah, whoever, VIP.
16:24So some people with affiliations to BJP, or people who fund BJP, or have the funds in
16:30this Bikashita Bharat, funds good enough, their sins can be washed away by greater payment.
16:40First of all, this was a very strange view for me.
16:42It's a different issue, but we don't see such things in Bengal, that you have a special
16:47route to God if you pay money, number one.
16:51Number two, these deaths, this Kumbh Mela is a Rashtriya Mela.
16:58It has been designated as a Rashtriya Mela.
17:01Ample funds have been given to it.
17:04We have Ganga Sagar Mela with crores of people.
17:08Because it's a Hindu Bengali festival in Bengal, BJP of course, the center gives no funds.
17:13That's okay.
17:16That's their attitude.
17:18But with ample funds, and everything at the disposal of the union government, being thrown
17:24at it, be it, you know, the RPF.
17:26Okay, so you're just saying that they could have managed this better?
17:30No, no, that's not what I'm saying.
17:33What I'm saying is, because they are in the game of self promotion, and not concerned
17:43of the devotees, and this happened, it should not be called an accident, because it happened
17:49in the ages, people were all right, okay, I want to go back to Okay, so you want to
17:54go on to their beds.
17:55And most importantly, till now, till now, I want to know, forget the shameless Railway
18:02Minister.
18:03Okay, so quickly, I want to see how many people of the top management of the RPF have been
18:10suspended.
18:11Okay, everyone has come up with the same question.
18:13I want to bring back
18:14No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, not
18:15the Railway Minister he will not, because the RPF top management, because the railway
18:19board top management
18:20Okay, I've got it.
18:21I've understood sir.
18:22We all have been made into BJP lackeys.
18:25I want to bring back to Veens than this conversation.
18:27Now, there's a larger question that beckons to be asked today.
18:31You know, while everyone, you know, is looking at the Mahakumbh, at this massive celebration
18:37of faith, you know, there is a lot of devotion and that is understandably seen by the sea
18:44of humanity that is making its way into Prayagraj.
18:47The question, Tuhin Sinha, that is being asked today of the BJP is what you are actually
18:53questioning the opposition of politics, that the BJP is trying to milk this politically,
18:58calling it the, you know, taking bath on a hourly basis, on a daily basis, when you can't
19:04really handle the kind of crowds that are coming in and they are coming in as a swath
19:10of humanity, then why advertise it at the scale that you are?
19:14Kumbh nahi nahi hai toh…
19:16Can you hear me, sir?
19:17Yeah, yeah, first of all…
19:18Go ahead, sir.
19:19Make your point.
19:20Make your point.
19:21First of all, it is very important to condemn the mischievous comments made by Mamata Banerjee
19:25today.
19:26You know, if you, if you think of it, there are still about a crore, there would be about
19:31a crore or somewhere, you know, in the vicinity of a crores of devotees in Prayagraj.
19:36Imagine the kind of panic she wanted to spread among the devotees when she uses terms like
19:41Mahakum is mithyukam and any responsible national leader should refrain from such, such pathetic
19:47words.
19:48Now, when it comes to Mahakum, I would, I would, you know, say this with responsibility,
19:53we have not politicized Mahakum.
19:55If there are certain numbers that are being, you know, given out, those are through a drone
20:00technology which, you know, kind of figures, takes, take factors in all the people who
20:05have taken the dip and those figures are being made public.
20:09Yes, till now, we had not anticipated that a Mahakum of the scale would have been managed,
20:14but if you travel there, in fact, you know, if any, any news, news, those news people
20:19who have traveled there will tell you that the VIP area, so-called VIP areas, because
20:23there is no VIP area.
20:24If there is a VIP area, it's only because of security reasons, certain people, like
20:30even for that matter, if DK Sivakumar comes and comes to take a dip, the protocols and
20:34the security have to be maintained.
20:36The same applies for a Sachin Pilot, the same applies for other, you know, opposition leaders
20:40also without, you know, because if there is no security, that would lead to another kind
20:45of catastrophic.
20:46So the areas segregated for them are completely away from the ones where the people are taking
20:53the dip.
20:54And I don't think that, you know, it has led to any chaos or any, any problem, which, which
20:59is something your own correspondent, Gautam, Gaurav Sawant has corroborated from there.
21:03No, Tuhin Sinha, one second.
21:05No, that's not true.
21:06One second.
21:07There are multiple reports that have come in.
21:08Even my colleague Gaurav Sawant detailed very clearly on the lapses that took place on that
21:13fateful night where over 30 people are dead.
21:16Just a correction, but you can make your point, finish your point, sir, then I'm going to
21:18take closing comments.
21:19No, no, the arrangements, the arrangements, like I said, are way better than many of these
21:24people would make you believe.
21:26But yes, I mean, this kind of a crowd, you know, is, is always difficult to handle.
21:30I think the government has done a brilliant job to handle the crowd barring that one night
21:35where two hours where, you know, there was, there was chaos and that chaos was again because,
21:41you know, certain police officials were not persuasive enough.
21:44People who were sleeping on the Ghats were not supposed to sleep on the Ghats.
21:46I think we are all in a position right now to admit.
21:49I think we will, you know, justify it and we're all in a position to admit that it wasn't
21:55just two hours.
21:56It was more than two hours.
21:57There wasn't one stampede on that night.
21:58There were two stampedes, but, you know, now there's been a third at the Delhi railway
22:02station.
22:03But I'll come back to you, sir.
22:04Allow me to take closing comments.
22:0530 seconds.
22:06You know, can I get in the Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson first?
22:08Go ahead, sir, ma'am.
22:10See Preeti, it's not, it's not just one stampede, as you said, there have been several fire
22:17incidents.
22:18And this whole idea, nowhere in Hinduism, it says that haves and have nots will have
22:23access to God in a different way.
22:25So on one hand, you've created this VIP Ghat where you're calling journalists, you're calling
22:29influencers for them to make these reels and portray as if everything is rosy and bright.
22:36On the other hand, the common people are having to walk miles and miles, there's mismanagement,
22:40there's traffic jams, there's exorbitant rent-seeking behavior from the devotees.
22:47So it's a grossly mismanaged, mismanaged event.
22:51But Bharatiya Janta Party will not accept their call, and they will not take any action.
22:56I just want to add, incidents like fire will take place in a massive festival like this.
23:03It's the largest festival where humanity is concerned.
23:05It's how it's managed.
23:06And to give it a benefit of doubt, the government did manage the incidents of fire very well.
23:12They're bound to happen.
23:13They did a great job.
23:14That actually should be publicized.
23:15But they cannot shirk responsibility and questions at the back of the stampede, sir.
23:19Very quickly, can I bring in the Congress spokesperson, Bhavya Narsimha Murthy, 30 seconds
23:23ma'am.
23:24You know, the whole attitude of BJP and its communist minister was actually shown by the
23:29spokesperson here.
23:31He measures their so-called accident in terms of number of hours and number of nights, one
23:37night, two hours.
23:39But we will measure in the number of lives lost.
23:42If only he had said that, yes, they should have looked into it, there was lapse in the
23:47security, then we would agree.
23:49And look at the way they're taking it so lightly when it comes to lives of the poor.
23:54The same thing about railway minister.
23:57If he doesn't resign this time, we are going to protest and this has to go up and every
24:03Indian should understand.
24:0430 seconds, ma'am.
24:05I'm running out of time.
24:06There's a reason I'm giving in the BJP little more time on the shows because there are three
24:11of you.
24:12Three of you against one.
24:13Garga Chatterjee, 30 seconds, sir, please make your point.
24:17I would like to, with folded hands, I would like to tell the prime minister and UP chief
24:22minister, please issue normal death certificates and not random sheets of paper to the people
24:29who have been killed, I would say, in the Kumbh Mela area during this time, because
24:35their bereaved family has to move on.
24:38And there are various things which needs to be done, number one.
24:41Number two, what the BJP spokesperson said, could he have said if he was surrounded by
24:45a crowd only of the survivors of those stampede, could he have said that?
24:49Would he have gone there without arms?
24:52And thirdly, I understand with some opposition, BJP leader, et cetera, why does Adani need
24:56security?
24:57Who is he afraid of?
24:59All right.
25:0030 seconds.
25:01Toheen Sinha, closing.
25:02You've had enough questions coming in from the three spokespersons.
25:05Toheen Sinha.
25:06And then I'm going to close the show.
25:07Well, I should repeat that there is no attempt to hide anything when it comes to the train
25:12stampede.
25:13And, you know, in a couple of days, we should have the conclusive report by the two-member
25:17committee.
25:18Accountability will be fixed.
25:19I will repeat that, you know, for a government which has put its heart and soul into making
25:25this a success, the death or even an injury to a single person is extremely anguishing.
25:32Accountability will be fixed and we will ensure that the remaining seven days are absolutely
25:35spot free.
25:36All right.
25:37But I think, you know, political leaders like Mamata Banerjee should be a little more careful
25:41when they use such derogatory terms for Hindu festivals, because I'm sure they will not
25:45have the courage to do that for any other religion.
25:47All right.
25:48On that note, I'd like to close this bulletin.
25:50I appreciate all four of you for joining us.
25:52For somebody who has covered multiple Kumbhs, I would say there is no God at the Kumbh.
25:58The river is the God and the river stands testimony to all that takes place.
26:02And I think we should just keep that in mind.