Rahul Gandhi meets kin of victims of various tragedies in Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday met the family members of those who lost their lives in various tragedies in Gujarat in recent years, and promised to raise their grievances in Parliament.

Relatives of the victims of the TRP game zone fire in Rajkot, a boat capsizing incident in Vadodara, the Morbi bridge collapse of 2022 and the 2016 Una Dalit flogging case met the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha at the Gujarat Congress headquarters in Paldi area here.

"Rahul Gandhi interacted with the family members of victims, understood their issues, and promised that he will raise them in Parliament so that justice is done," said Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani who coordinated the interaction.

Narendra Parmar, who lost his ten-year-old daughter in the Morbi bridge collapse, said they have lost faith in the "corrupt system" in the BJP-ruled Gujarat.

"I told Gandhi that all the key accused are out on bail and court proceedings are going on at a very slow pace. We have lost our faith in this corrupt system. Even the company's MD is out on bail," he said.

"Gandhi promised us that he will take up our cause and raise the issue in Parliament so that we get justice at the earliest," Parmar told PTI.

As many as 135 persons died after a British-era suspension bridge over Machchhu river in Morbi town collapsed on October 30, 2022. The bridge was maintained by Oreva Group. The company's CMD Jaysukh Patel was granted bail in March this year.

Sandhya Nizama, who lost her nine-year-old son in a boat capsize incident in Vadodara, alleged justice was not done because the many culprits were let off by the police.

"Though police arrested some persons, many key people who were responsible for this tragedy are still roaming free. No action was taken against the school management who took our children for this trip. Officials are also misleading the court. Gandhi has promised that he will raise our issue in the Lok Sabha," said Nizama.

Twelve school students and two teachers were killed when a boat capsized in Motnath lake in Harni area of Vadodara city on January 18.

The Vadodara Municipal Corporation had awarded the contract to maintain and operate the lakefront project to Kotia Projects, whose partners were subsequently arrested.

Santoshben Kathad, who lost her younger sister Asha Kathad in the Rajkot game zone fire, said they did not trust the probe being conducted by the state government.

"We invited Rahul Gandhi to join the stir we are planning to launch because we have no faith in the investigation. Gandhi told me he will remain by our side till we get justice. He also promised to raise this issue in Parliament," said Kathad.

As many as 27 persons including four children were killed in the massive fire that swept through the game zone in Nana-Mava locality of Rajkot city on May 25. Asha Kathad was one of the employees who was charred to death as she was trapped inside.

Vashram Sarvaiya, one of the four Dalits who were flogged by cow vigilantes in July 2016 at a village near Una town, complained that the government failed to fulfil the promises made by then chief minister Anandiben Patel.

"Patel had promised us jobs as per the qualification. She had also promised a fast-track court for a speedy trial. But no promise was kept. All the 40-odd accused are out on bail," Sarvaiya said.