HYDERABAD: Blaming the TDP government's inefficiency and poor arrangements for the stampede that took place at the Pushkaram Ghat in Rajahmundry that killed 27 people and injured several others, opposition parties in the State demanded Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to take morale responsibility for the incident and tender his resignation.
Speaking to reporters at Indira Bhavan here on Tuesday, APCC chief N Raghuveera Reddy and Rajya Sabha member K Chiranjeevi alleged that the incident took place due to the failure of the government especially Chief Minister Naidu, in making proper arrangements for the safety of the devotees.
They demanded an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh each to the nearest kin of persons killed in the stampede.
"The incident happened purely because of Naidu's mistake. If he had offered prayer in the VIP Ghats Instead of Ghat allocated for common man this incident would have never taken place," Chiranjeevi said.
Coming down heavily on Chief Minister Naidu, the APCC chief alleged that the tragedy occurred due to shortsightedness and incompetency of Naidu. "It all happened as devotees were forced to wait for three hours since Naidu was performing rituals at the main venue. And when they were allowed all rushed to take bath and the stampede took place resulting in deaths of so many people," he said.
Stating that the presence of Naidu was creating problem for officials to perform their duties as they have to take care of his security, Raghuveera Reddy advised the AP Chief Minister to immediately leave Rajahmundry along with his Cabinet colleagues so that officials can take control of the situation. "Officials are capable of handling such events. It is because of the interference of Naidu they are not able to work and the unfortunate incident took placed," he said.
Meanwhile, principal opposition party YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has also blamed Naidu for the incident and demanded his resignation.
YSRC leader Botcha Satyanarayana lashed out at the TDP government and said that Naidu is a megalomaniac and only works to promote his personal image and least cares for welfare of people.