Congress says Vadodara bridge collapse is one of the 16 major tragedies in past four years, demands SIT probe

A day after the collapse of a bridge in Vadodara, the Congress demanded the resignation of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi over repeated failures and alleged that there have been 16 such incidents in the State in the past four years.

The party on Thursday (July 10, 2025) demanded a special investigation team (SIT) probe and sought answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah since both are from Gujarat.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, in a post on X, alleged corruption, incompetence and a leadership crisis prevailed under the BJP rule. He asserted that people would give a befitting reply to the party “when the time” came.

“Accidents have become common 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,” Mr. Kharge said on X.

Three years ago, the condition of the bridge was said to be “dangerous” due to “vibrations”, but no action was taken, the Congress chief said, citing media reports.

“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,” Mr. Kharge said, adding, “This is the result of a leadership crisis, corruption all around, lack of ability to run the government, and incompetence”.

Addressing a press conference at the All India Congress Committee headquarters, party MLA from Gujarat Jignesh Mevani and Congress Seva Dal chief Lalji Desai squarely blamed the Gujarat government for the bridge collapse.

Mr. Mevani claimed that people from adjacent areas had repeatedly flagged concerns about the bridge, warning that it could collapse anytime, but the concerns were ignored. The Congress legislator claimed that the bridge collapse was only one of a series of 16 major tragedies that took place during the last four years, but “not a single person had been held responsible” in the State.

“About three years ago in Morbi, due to the government’s negligence, 135 people lost their lives. In Rajkot, the government paid no attention to the public’s warnings and a fire in a gaming zone claimed several lives. In Vadodara, a boat capsized, resulting in the deaths of 14 people, including children. A few months ago, a fire in a factory in Deesa led to the deaths of about 22 people,” Mr. Mevani said.

“The BJP government in Gujarat seems to have decided that in the State, when a person loses their life, there will be a compensation of ₹4 lakh, meaning the value of a common person’s life here is merely ₹4 lakh,” he added.

Separately, senior party leader Rahul Gandhi met his colleagues from Gujarat at his mother’s official residence, 10 Janpath, and discussed ways to strengthen the organisation ahead of the 2027 Assembly election.

Apart from Congress general secretary-organisation K.C. Venugopal and general secretary in-charge of Gujarat Mukul Wasnik, State leaders who were present included Congress Legislative Party leader Amit Chavda, Shaktisinh Gohil, Amee Yajnik, Bharatsinh Solanki and Mr. Mevani, among others.