Politics begins over Simaria Ghat stampede tragedy, Tejashwi blames government

Political blame game has begun over the Simaria Ghat stampede incident which took place on Saturday morning in Begusarai district in which 3 persons lost their lives and left more than a dozen injured. The devotees had gathered on the bank of Ganga River to take a holy dip on the occasion of Kartik Purnima.

Former deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav has blamed the government for its failure in making proper arrangement for the festival when several lakh devotees were expected to throng Simaria Ghat today.

"Prayers for the families who lost their loved ones in the stampede incident. There was no special arrangement that was made by the Begusarai administration keeping in mind the huge turnout of people. Nitish Kumar government should take responsibility for the incident", tweeted Tejashwi Yadav, former deputy CM.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, soon after the incident announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lacs for the families who lost their loved ones.

According to preliminary investigation, the stampede was caused because of some rumor. The police, however, are trying to ascertain the exact reason which led to the stampede in which 3 persons, all women were killed. The deceased have been identified as Kanchan Devi (70) from Nalanda, Triveni Devi (70) from Sitamarhi and Shakunti Devi (80) from Darbhanga.

Initially, it appears that the Begusarai administration was ill prepared to handle the huge turnout of devotees on the occasion of Kartik Purnima because of which the incident happened.

Also watch: Lalu rail scam: Why JD-U silent, what's Nitish Kumar's next move?