Opposition parties have accused the Centre of attempts to cover up the deaths in Saturday night’s stampede at the New Delhi railway station, and blamed the tragedy on the BJP urging people to visit the Kumbh without making adequate arrangements.

For several hours after an X user sounded a 7.59pm alert about a “stamped(e)-like situation”, posts from the Prime Minister and railway minister said nothing about any deaths. Shortly after midnight, Delhi lieutenant governor V.K. Saxena edited out the mention of “loss of lives” and “condolences” from his initial, 11.55pm X post.

News agency ANI, often the first to report government-related news, dismissed reports of the stampede as “a rumour” at 11.16pm. The first government acknowledgment of the deaths came at 12.13am on Sunday, from defence minister Rajnath Singh.

“The attempt by the Narendra Modi government to hide the truth in the case of deaths at New Delhi Railway Station is extremely shameful and condemnable,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge posted on X at 1.28am on Sunday.

He asked the government to reveal the number of dead and injured “as soon as possible” and identify the missing.

Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee wrote on X: “…Pilgrims on their way to the Mahakumbh should have been met with proper support and facilities, not distress. It is essential to ensure that such journeys are safe and well-organised.”

Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha leader Sanjay Singh accused BJP governments of habitually suppressing bad news.

“Reporters’ mobile phones are snatched or broken to stop them from capturing the reality. Initially, the government denies any incident, labeling reports as rumours, lies, or misinformation,” he told reporters in the afternoon.

“Only when the bodies are visible, and the truth becomes undeniable, do they reluctantly acknowledge the tragedy — only to begin covering it up.”

Singh flagged Saxena’s editing of his initial social media post.

At 11.55pm on Saturday, Saxena had posted: “There has been an unfortunate and tragic incident of loss of lives and injuries due to disorder & stampede at New Delhi Railway Station. My deepest condolences to the families of victims of this tragedy.

“Have spoken to Chief Secretary & Police Commissioner and asked them to address and redress the situation….”

At 12.24am, he edited the post to read: “There has been an unfortunate incident at New Delhi Railway Station.

“Have spoken to Chief Secretary & Police Commissioner and asked them to address the situation….”

The 7.59pm post from Dheeraj Raina, which had provided one of the first alerts on social media, had urged the railway minister: “@AshwiniVaishnaw sir please wake up. Total chaos at New Delhi Railway station, stamped(e) like situation at the entrance PF 16, only 1 constable is present who is unable to manage the situation.”

Raina received an automated, generic response from the Railway Seva handle at 9.07pm that passed the complaint on to the Railway Protection Force.

At 12.42am on Sunday, Raina posted: “Railway minister should resign.”

At 9.24pm on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had posted a message on X welcoming people to the Kashi Tamil Sangamam.

It was 12.56am on Sunday when the Prime Minister confirmed the deaths, posting: “Distressed by the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones….”

The Delhi Fire Service said it had received an emergency call from the station between 9.55pm and 9.56pm on Saturday.

Rajnath’s 12.13am post that first confirmed the deaths said: “Devastating news from New Delhi Railway Station. I am extremely pained by the loss of lives due to stampede on Railway platform.”

Till then, the authorities had appeared to play the incident down.

At 11.16pm on Saturday, ANI posted: “There is no stampede. It is only a rumour. “Northern Railways was running two planned special trains (for Prayagraj): CPRO Northern Railways.” This post was later deleted.

The agency uploaded a video of a police officer at 12.05am, and wrote: “DCP Railway KPS Malhotra says, ‘Two trains were delayed, and due to extra footfall of passengers, the gathering was huge. A few people are injured. As of now, the situation is under control.

“The situation occurred due to a massive crowd within a span of 15-20 minutes. It occurred as a special train was announced, and people tried to catch that train...”

Even after Rajnath’s post, ANI posted at 12.57am: “Dilip Kumar, Executive Director of Information & Publicity (ED/IP), Railway Board, says, ‘The number of passengers was relatively very high today at the New Delhi railway station, and so we ran four more special trains. We received information that a few people fainted — they have been admitted to a local hospital.”

Railway minister Vaishnaw put out three posts on X between 11.36pm and 11.53pm on people getting injured, evacuation efforts, and the ordering of an inquiry. Only at 1.09am did he post a message that had a sentence confirming deaths.

The CPM said: “...Urging people to participate through an unprecedented publicity blitzkrieg and then not making necessary arrangements is the reality behind this loss of lives.”

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav listed 10 characteristics of mega events held on BJP governments’ watch.

Among his charges against the BJP and its leaders were those of misusing these events for electoral gain, spending more on publicity than the arrangements, imagining themselves as experts, ignoring challenges, rejecting advice from other parties, and attacking news reports on the shortcomings.

“In case of an accident in a ‘mega-event’, first of all suppress the news of the accident through media management, instead of accepting the accident and carrying out relief, rescue, reform and disaster management,” Akhilesh posted.

“Hiding the figures of those killed and injured in the accident of a ‘big event’ so that the lack of management can be minimised. Making the relatives of the dead run around to collect the bodies and disappointing them and hushing up the matter by telling them some other reason for the death.”