Mayawati slams PM Modi for terming Gorakhpur tragedy as 'natural calamity'

The Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Wednesday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks on the death of children in Gorakhpur and asked people to understand the "distorted thinking" of BJP leaders.

The BSP chief also termed as shocking BJP chief Amit Shah's statement at a press conference in Bengaluru that "this is not the first time such an incident has taken place in this large country of ours".

"It is both surprising and sad that Prime Minister Modi went a step ahead of his party president Amit Shah and described the death of children in Gorakhpur, caused by criminal, official negligence, as a natural calamity...people of the county should now understand the distorted and wrong thinking of BJP leaders," Mayawati said in a statement.

In his Independence Day speech on Tuesday, Modi had said, "Sometimes, natural calamities become a very big challenge. Good rains contribute hugely to the prosperity of a nation. But due to climate change, sometimes, these natural calamities bring distress."

"A few days back, in many parts of the country, natural disasters took place. A few days back, at a hospital, our innocent children died," Modi had said.

Mayawati said everyone is aware that the tragedy is an outcome of rampant corruption at every level still the prime minister "has tried to save his party government by terming it as natural calamity when his own party MP and the RSS have condemned it".

"Instead of taking action against their ministers and others, both Modi and Shah are showing ego and behaving in an authoritarian manner and BSP condemns it in the strongest words," she charged.

Shah had recently rejected the demand for UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's ouster over the Gorakhpur tragedy, saying such incidents had also happened in states governed by the Congress.

"It is natural for Congress to ask for Yogiji's resignation. This is not the first time such an incident has taken place in this large country of ours. Such incidents have taken place during Congress rule in many states," he had said.

The BSP president claimed that the BJP wanted to hold Lok Sabha elections by the end of next year along with Assembly polls in some BJP-ruled Hindi-speaking states and asked the safforn party to at least now work honestly for the welfare of people.

PTI