New Delhi: BJP Saturday said it was "patently
inhuman" for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati to say her
government did not have enough funds to provide compensation
to Pratapgarh stampede victims and asked how much money she
had spent on erecting her own statues.
"How can Mayawati say her government has no funds for the
stampede victims? It is unbelievable that a large state like
Uttar Pradesh does not have funds for giving compensation.
This is patently inhuman," party spokesperson Ravi Shankar
Prasad said.
"Any democratic party cannot speak such a language," he
said.
63 people, mostly women and children, were killed and
scores of others injured in the stampede at the ashram of
Swami Kripalu Maharaj in Pratapgarh on Thursday.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced an ex-gratia
payment of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of those killed and Rs
50,000 to those seriously injured.
BJP said the stampede was an "unfortunate incident" and
insisted that there was lack of proper management and police
arrangement for the programme in the ashram.
Former BJP president Rajnath Singh has gone to Allahabad
- where the injured have been admitted in hospitals - and
Pratapgarh to meet those hurt in the incident and the families
of the victims.
PTI
