Six people have died and several injuries were reported at the Gangasagar in West Bengal.
The death of six persons at Bengal's Gangasagar on Sunday has triggered a row between the state's Trinamool Congress government and the Centre.
A day after the Prime Minister's Office announced compensation for those dead in the "stampede", senior Trinamool leader Sovan Chatterjee said, "There was no stampede at Gangasagar yesterday".
Mr Chatterjee, who is also the Kolkata mayor and fire and emergency services minister, added, "Without contacting the state officials, the PMO said 'stampede'. This is unethical and an attack on the federal structure of India."
The PMO tweet had announced a Rs 2 lakh compensation to the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured.
The state BJP has demanded an investigation into the incident.
"A minister has said six people died from cold. The incident was in the afternoon. People sweat in crowds, not die of cold," said BJP chief Dilip Ghosh. Suggesting that the CCTV footage from the area be checked, he said, "No one has faith on the state government's probe. But we are not asking for CBI yet."
There is a certain lack of clarity about what happened. No comments have come from either the superintendent of police or the district magistrate, who are in charge.
Reports said that on Sunday afternoon, at Jetty 5 at Kechuberia on the Sagar Island where Makar Sankranti is observed, hundreds of people were waiting for a ferry to the mainland, allegedly for hours.
Suddenly, people at the back started surging forward, crushing some people in front.
After the initial reports, senior minister Firhad Hakim said, "Police have said six people have died, but from natural causes and not a stampede. Some people have been admitted to a local hospital."
Six bodies were at a hospital at Sagar Island today. Four of them -- all women in their late 60s or 70s - were identified. Their relatives have reportedly claimed they died after a stampede.