Tejashwi, Congress seek probe into incident

Patna: Leader of opposition in the state assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, and Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram on Tuesday expressed condolences over the Nalanda temple stampede that claimed nine lives.Praying to God for the “peace of the departed souls and the speedy recovery of the injured,” Tejashwi said while expressing “heartfelt condolences for the bereaved families.” He also held “administrative mismanagement” responsible for the incident. “The incident caused by administrative mismanagement, resulting in the death of nine devotees, is deeply saddening,” Tejashwi said, while also demanding a “high-level inquiry into the incident,” besides urging the “govt and district administration to ensure proper medical treatment for the injured.”The state Congress headquarters here observed a two-minute silence to mourn the deceased. Later, the party’s state chief Rajesh Ram held the state govt totally responsible for the stampede, pointing out that not a single policeman had been deployed for the security of the devotees. “The BJP-JD(U) govt has totally failed in ensuring the security of the devotees who had come in large numbers to offer prayers at the temple,” Ram said.