Akhilesh backs Mamata; alleges bad arrangements, corruption in Maha Kumbh

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the government of bad arrangements in Maha Kumbh and alleged that there was large scale corruption involved in it

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday backed West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who had accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of mismanagement in the Maha Kumbh in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj and turning it into a “Mrityu Kumbh”.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav. (PTI)

Speaking to reporters in Lucknow, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister echoed Banerjee’s line, saying that the case of deaths and people missing in Maha Kumbh was being hidden by the UP government. He accused the government of “bad arrangements” in Maha Kumbh and alleged that there was “large scale corruption” involved in it.

“What Mamata Banerjee said about West Bengal is correct. People from her state have also lost their lives. A large number of people from Bengal and other states have died. FIRs are not even being registered,” Yadav said.

“Devotees have been coming for centuries, Kumbh has been going on since ancient times. Who was responsible for the arrangements for this event? When the (UP) chief minister (Yogi Adityanath) said that arrangements have been made for 100 crore people, people got more confidence. When he invited celebrities and other famous persons, people became even more confident that the arrangements would be good. But that did not happen. BJP is taking advantage of the sentiments of the people. This Kumbh has the highest number of missing persons cases, the highest number of deaths, and the highest number of people falling ill,” he added.

On Tuesday, speaking in the West Bengal legislative assembly, Mamata Banerjee said, “I respect the Maha Kumbh but it has turned into a dungeon of death. You said 30 people died but fact is thousands died, and you threw the bodies in the river.”

“Was there any planning to avoid a stampede? There was none... You are allowing thousands of passengers on trains. How many people can a train carry? Why did you create this hype?” the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said about the January 29 tragedy and the recent stampede at New Delhi railway station.

She also alleged that bodies of the Bengal residents who died in Prayagraj were not sent for postmortem by the Uttar Pradesh government.

Accusing the BJP of “selling religion,” she alleged that the Maha Kumbh has been organised “to make money.”

“They are selling their religion in Bengal to ruin Bengal’s unique culture which is imbedded in rich history.... I will not let these fake preachers of religion tarnish Bengal,” she added.

She further said, “Hindu religion is not so small. It is represented by Ramakrishna Paramahamsha and Swami Vivekananda. Read the speech Vivekananda delivered in Chicago (in 1893). Hinduism is a universal religion,” she said.

The BJP hit out at Banerjee for her remarks calling it an “insult” of the Maha Kumbh and called for strong protest against her.

She insulted the Maha Kumbh. I appeal to all Hindu religious leaders and organizations to put up a strong protest,” leader of the opposition in West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari said.

BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari criticised Banerjee’s statement alleging it as “hate for Sanatan and Hindus”.

Akhilesh Yadav said, “These are the people who are destroying things, these are the people who are doing a great scam in Maha Kumbh. They are using such language to divert people from the bad arrangements in the Kumbh. The chief minister is also a Yogi. We trust all our saints and Yogis because they speak the truth. This is the chief minister who wants to hide the incident that happened in front of millions of eyes.”

“Corruption has happened in the Mahakumbh on a large scale. When an investigation will be done, it will be known that the biggest scam has been done in toilets. And it is being heard that several hundred crores have been swindled in the Maha Kumbh. The language of the chief minister has changed to hide the great corruption and great failure in this Maha Kumbh,” he added.