Cong slams BJP over Gujarat bridge collapse, says party busy in speeches

The Congress on Thursday slammed the BJP over the bridge collapse in Gujarat, saying the party's leadership and government have crossed all limits of indifference as they remain busy in making speeches and issuing advertisements in the name of "governance".

The opposition party also alleged that there was a leadership crisis, corruption all around and incompetence prevailing under the BJP rule, and asserted that the people would give a befitting reply when the time comes.

Thirteen people were killed as several vehicles plunged into the Mahisagar river after a portion of a four-decade-old bridge collapsed in Gujarat's Vadodara district on Wednesday morning, officials said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "Accidents have become a common thing in the country. Sometimes a train accident, sometimes a bridge developing cracks soon after inauguration. The country has not yet recovered from the plane crash and yesterday the news of a bridge collapse came from Gujarat," he said in a post in Hindi.

"We have deep condolences for the families of the victims," Kharge said.

Three years ago it was said that the situation was "dangerous" due to "vibrations" in the bridge but still nothing was done, Kharge said, citing media reports.

This is the seventh incident of bridge collapse in Gujarat since 2021, he said.

"The BJP leadership and government have crossed all limits of indifference as they remain busy only in making speeches and issuing advertisements in the name of 'governance' in the whole country," Kharge said.

"This is the result of leadership crisis, corruption all around, lack of ability to run the government, and incompetence," he alleged.

It is hoped that the people of the country are seeing this and will give a befitting reply to it when the time comes, Kharge added.

The death toll in the collapse of the bridge over a river in Gujarat's Vadodara district has gone up to 13 with the recovery of two more bodies, officials said on Thursday.

A slab of the Gambhira-Mujpur bridge, which connects central Gujarat to the Saurashtra region of the state, collapsed at around 7 am on Wednesday, as per officials.

This caused the vehicles passing through the bridge to plunge into the river.

Five out of the nine rescued persons suffered injuries and were undergoing treatment at the SSG Hospital in Vadodara. None of the injured persons was in a critical condition.