The Congress on Thursday claimed that between seven and 16 bridges had collapsed in Gujarat in the last four years, which if true would mean that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state can give competition to Bihar, hitherto the leader in such incidents.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said seven bridges had collapsed in Gujarat since 2021, while his party’s Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani claimed the number was “at least 16”.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had censured the Bihar government while hearing a petition highlighting more than 10 incidents of bridge collapses across that state since 2022.

The Opposition salvo at the BJP, which has ruled Gujarat for the last 27 years, came the day the death toll from the Vadodara bridge collapse rose to 18.

A slab of the Gambhira-Mujpur bridge, which connects central Gujarat to the Saurashtra region of the state, collapsed around 7am on Wednesday. Several vehicles plunged into the Mahisagar river when a portion of the four-decade-old bridge gave way.

“Accidents have become a common occurrence in the country,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote on X (previously Twitter). “Sometimes a train accident, sometimes a bridge developing cracks right after its inauguration. The country hasn’t even recovered from the plane crash when news of a bridge collapse in Gujarat came yesterday…”

“Since 2021, this is the 7th incident of a bridge collapse in Gujarat,” he wrote.

He pointed out that three years ago, the Vadodara bridge’s condition was assessed as dangerous, and alleged that “nothing was done”.

He added: “In the name of governance, the BJP leadership and government are busy only with speeches and advertising. They have crossed all limits of indifference.”

Kharge called it “the result of a leadership crisis, rampant corruption, lack of capacity to run the government, and incompetence.”

Gujarat Congress leader Jignesh Mewani alleged several accidents have occurred across the state in the past few years due to the collusion of the BJP government in Gujarat and corrupt officers. .

"In Gujarat, at least 16 bridge collapse incidents have occurred in the last four years, but not a single person has gone to jail in these cases,” the Congress MLA from Vadgam claimed. “Our demand is that an SIT [special investigation team] be formed to investigate the previous 16 cases, including the recent one.”

He said: "The common people had been raising concerns about the Gambhira bridge for quite some time. Our CLP leader Amit Chavda ji himself had said that the bridge is dilapidated, needs repairs and could collapse. The BJP government did not listen.”

After the bridge collapsed on Wednesday, a woman was screaming and shouting for nearly an hour pleading to be saved but in the end she and her family were rescued by local fishermen, while the local administration was nowhere to be found, Mevani alleged.

"About three years ago in Morbi, due to the government's negligence, 135 people lost their lives. In Rajkot, the public had warned, but the government paid no attention, and in the end, 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," he said.

"The BJP government in Gujarat seems to have decided that in the state, one must become a part of an accident, lose their life, and take a compensation of Rs 4 lakh -- meaning, the value of a common person's life here is merely Rs 4 lakh," he said.

Mevani accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of having fun abroad while innocent citizens were dying in Gujarat.

"In Gujarat, companies that were previously blacklisted are given projects again if they donate to the BJP during elections— companies whose corruption has caused accidents," he alleged.

If the government does not form a team of honest officers to investigate the last 16 cases, the Congress will take to the streets demanding the resignation of the state's chief minister and the home minister, he said.

Congress leader Lalji Desai claimed that bridges were collapsing in every district and tehsil in Gujarat.

"The collapse of roads, bridges, canals, and dams, as well as fire incidents have become very common. As soon as such incidents occur, the home minister comes and says that the culprits will not be spared. But the question is, they will only spare the culprits if they are caught," he said.

"In Gujarat, it’s not just bridges that are collapsing; the entire government has collapsed," he said.

In the case of Bihar, the Supreme Court bench had said that officials were suspended after bridge collapses only to be brought back after the furore had died down.

Last month, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s government announced that it has roped in IIT Delhi and IIT Patna to audit 85 major bridges under the new Bihar State Bridge Maintenance Policy 2025, which it said was the country's first state-level framework for systematic bridge upkeep.

(With PTI inputs)