GOVT HIDING THE TRUTH, SAYS AKHILESH
LUCKNOW Expressing shock and grief over the Baba Raghav Das Medical College tragedy, Samajwadi Party (SP) national president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said his party had sent a probe team to Gorakhpur because the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was concealing the truth. “The government is squarely responsible for the death of all the children,” he said at a press conference at the party headquarters here on Saturday afternoon. Yadav charged the administration with “manipulating and removing admission records of the patients who died. “Now, the truth will never come out. The government must take full responsibility for the tragedy,” he said. “Chief minister Yogi Adityanath was in Gorakhpur and held a review meeting at the BRD Medical College. Didn’t the issue of oxygen supply problems and non-payment to the suppliers crop up at the review meeting?” the former chief minister asked. Akhilesh Yadav claimed that 50 patients, including 32 children, died in 32 hours. He demanded that the government pay Rs 50 lakh compensation to the next of kin of each of the patients who died in the tragedy. The SP chief has sent a delegation led by Vidhan Sabha leader of opposition Ramgobind Chaudhary, Balram Yadav, and Santosh Yadav ‘Sunny’ to the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur. Akhilesh Yadav hit out at the BJP government that had charged the SP and Opposition with “doing politics over death”. “As the Opposition, isn’t it our job to ask the government questions?” he asked.