Kharghar deaths: "Shinde govt 100 pc responsible, facts must come out," says Sharad Pawar

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Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said that the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government is solely responsible for the deaths of 13 people in Kharghar and reiterated his demand for a judicial inquiry into the deaths of people during or after the Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony, adding that "actual facts must come out".

"It was 100 per cent the state govt responsibility, as they organised the event, keeping elections in mind. A sitting judge must investigate this incident and the actual facts must come out," Pawar said while addressing the organizational meeting for BMC polls.

Earlier in the day, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray demanded the resignations of CM Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis.

As many as 13 people, who attended the open-air Maharashtra Bhushan Award ceremony on Sunday at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai, died from heatstroke.

Uddhav Thackeray said that the organisers of the event should be punished as arrangements were not at the required level.

Talking to the mediapersons, Thackeray said, "Those who organized this event should be punished. The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra should take responsibility and resign from their posts. It is not that the Maharashtra Bhushan ceremony happened for the first time, it has happened many times before. If they had to organize such a big event, then the arrangements should have been of that level".

Earlier in the day, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Ajit Pawar also wrote a letter to Governor Ramesh Bais demanding an inquiry into the incident and urged the matter to be probed through a retired judge.

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The Maharashtra government on Thursday said that they have formed a one-member committee to investigate the matter. The committee headed by the additional chief secretary of the Revenue Department will submit its report within a month. The committee will also make recommendations to the government on things that are to be taken care of in future when planning such events.

Earlier, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde declared Rs 5 lakh each as compensation for the next-of-kin of the deceased and added that his government will bear the medical expenses of those still undergoing treatment at the hospital.

The attendees, who came down with heat strokes at the ceremony, were admitted to Tata Hospital in Kharghar.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, his son Aditya Thackeray and NCP leader Ajit Pawar visited those, still undergoing treatment at the hospital.

The Maharashtra Bhushan Award ceremony was attended by Union home minister Amit Shah, CM Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis.

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