Politicians across the spectrum expressed sympathy for the Patna stampede victims and demanded action against the officials responsible for the tragic mishap.
"It is a painful incident. Had the administration taken proper steps such an incident should have been avoided. Lots of people have died and many have been injured. My sympathies are with the families, strict action must be taken against officials responsible for this," Congress' Rashid Alvi said.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sambit Patra also termed the incident as "extremely unfortunate" and informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken to Bihar Chife Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and investigations have been ordered.
BJP MP Ram Kripal Yadav, however, demanded the resignation of Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, "It is the failure of the state government and Bihar CM should give his resignation. The incident had to take place because the government didn't take any measures to manage crowd."
Meanwhile, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan also blamed the state government saying, "There was no security, no light, one gate was open, more than five lakh people were present there and the police was there only to lathicharge. This is not the first time it has happened."
"The state government is insensitive, it took hours them to react. The state government is responsible for this. I am going to visit Patna. I will submit a report to Home Minister and the Prime Minister once I return. The Home Minister has assured all help possible," he added.
Tariq Anwar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also demanded strict action against the officials responsible for the mishap.
At least 33 persons were killed and 15 others were injured following a stampede at Patna's Gandhi Maidan on Friday. The stampede took place when people were returning from the Dussehra celebrations.