Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati held an emergency meeting of senior government officials in Lucknow on Tuesday night after a blast shook the temple town of Varanasi killing a child and injuring 20 people.
She rushed a team of officials, besides Bahujan Samaj Party state unit president Swami Prasad Maurya to Varanasi directing them to monitor the relief measures and treatment of the injured persons at government expenditure, an official statement said.
Besides directing the officials to investigate the matter thoroughly, she asked them to take stern action against those found guilty, the statement said.
Condemning the blast and expressing grief over the death of a two-year-old child in the incident, she appealed the people to maintain peace and brotherhood and repulse the designs of anti-national elements.
The CM also directed the officials to make an assessment of the losses for extending proper financial help to the victims.
Opposition Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav meanwhile said the incident was a result of the government's "inefficiency".
"The prime duty of the state government is to ensure the security of life and property of its people but due to the inefficiency of the government, it has been jeopardised," Yadav said in a statement.
"The Ganga ghat in Varanasi is most sensitive but the state government has been found wanting in ensuring security there," he said describing the government as "insensitive".
State unit president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Surya Pratap Shahi, who went to the spot, said the terror attack was the result of the "appeasement" policy being pursued by the state government.
"Both the Congress and BSP in power at the Centre and the state have failed to give a firm message to terrorists and disruptive elements," Shahi said.
In a statement, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Subodh Srivasatava asked the government to take stern action against those who failed to ensure security in Varanasi leading to Tuesday's incident.
"Despite tall claims, the state government has failed to foil the designs of the terrorists on the anniversary of Babri mosque demolition," Srivasatava added.
