Launching a blistering attack on the Centre and the State Government on the death of the Ganga crusader Gyan Swaroop Sanand, the State Congress leaders said that they both were responsible for the death of the ascetic.
Lauding Sanand as a son of Mother Ganga, the State Congress chief Pritam Singh said that his death is an irreparable loss to the country, the State and the cause of the holy river. “He was on the fasting for 110 days, but the insensitive BJP Government was sleeping on it. When he gave up water they sat up in alarm and had him admitted at a hospital,” he said.
Training his gun on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his unfulfilled promise on Ganga, he said that he has been pontificating on the imperative of maintaining the sanctity of Ganga over the past four years. “But the reality is that the holy river remains polluted despite the humungous sum of Rs 20,000 crore being pumped into cleaning Ganga projects ,” Singh said.
Expressing grief at the demise of Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand, the leader of opposition in the Assembly, Indira Hridayesh has said that the State Government is responsible for his death. Talking to media persons, she said that the Government should have acted on time and admitted him in the hospital.
She said that the demise was a result of major negligence of the State Government. He had undertaken a protest fast during the term of the Congress Government too but at that times the Government had acceded to his demands. His demise has also sent a wrong message to the religious fraternity, she added.
Commenting on the death of the ascetic, the State Congress vice-president Surya Kant Dhasmana said that Sanand had sacrificed his life for the cause of the sacred river. “The State Government did nothing to save the life of Sanand,” he said.
He, further, said that Nigamanand and Sanand had launched fast unto death for Ganga during BJP regime and both had died while on the fast. “This is significant,” he said. He said that BJP’s commitment to Ganga and Cow is mere flippancy. “They just milk these emotive issues for political interests,” he added.
Suspecting foul play in the death of Sanand, senior Congress leader Dhirendra Pratap has demanded a probe by a sitting judge of the High Court.