Opposition leaders demand case against HRD minister

Agra, March 8 

Notwithstanding union HRD Minister Smriti Irani's denial about the involvement of any vehicle from her cavalcade in an accident in Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, opposition leaders on Tuesday demanded registration of a case against her and compensation to the bereaved family.

On Saturday night, a motor-cycle rider was killed and two children riding along with him injured when a vehicle hit them on the Yamuna Expressway. 

Talking to IANS, after a visit to the residence of deceased Ramesh Nagar in Etmadpur, senior Congress leader Shabana Khandelwal said: "We met the two children -- Sandli and Pankaj -- who were badly injured. Sandli said that after the accident Smriti stopped for a while at the spot and that they pleaded to her to help transport the injured to the hospital but she didn't pay any heed and left." 

"Had she arranged for some help, my father could have been saved. My condition also deteriorated. When I regained my senses, I found many vehicles had run over my father's body and he lay dead."

Aam Admi Party leader Amit Singh also visited the injured and criticised what he called the human resource development minister's "callous attitude".

Khandelwal said that after Hema Malini's car accident on the Jaipur highway, this was the second such case. 

"Why can't they help the family of the deceased? No Bharatiya Janata Party leader has visited the bereaved family. Courtesy demands that they come out and help the family."

Some BJP youth wing leaders are said to have met the family on Tuesday.