In an ironic twist of political winds, even those political parties that earned notoriety for their Muslim appeasement and suppressing or neglecting Hindus are now scrambling to paint themselves as the champions of Hindu causes to woo the majority community. In this vein, “27 mein aayenge Akhilesh, 32 mein bhavya Ardhkumbh karayenge vishesh” posters have been put up outside the Samajwadi Party’s office in Lucknow.
#WATCH | Uttar Pradesh: Posters saying '27 mein aayenge Akhilesh, 32 mein bhavya Ardhkumbh karayenge vishesh' put up outside Samajwadi Party office in Lucknow. pic.twitter.com/iF4NkWAuML
— ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2025
The poster implies that when the Samajwadi Party will be voted to power in Uttar Pradesh in the coming assembly elections in 2027, Akhilesh Yadav will organise a grand Ardhkumbh in 2032 in a special manner. This apparently is yet another move by the Samajwadi Party to use the Hindu festival of Kumbh for its political gains.
The posters feature Akhilesh’s photograph, showcasing him taking a holy dip at Mahakumbh in Prayagraj, which he did on January 26. The posters have been put up by Somil Singh Srinet, the state spokesperson of Lohini Vahini of the party.
Samajwadi Party trying to find faults in Mahakumbh, failing and setting targets for Ardhkumbh, forgets the flawed organisation of 2013 Kumbh by Akhilesh Yadav govt
OpIndia has reported earlier how the opposition parties, particularly Samajwadi Party leaders a pushing their apocryphal narrative that somehow the organisation of the Mahakumbh under the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh has been a massive failure. They even blamed the supposed mismanagement and VIP movements for the stampede that claimed 30 lives and left about 60 to 70 injured. However, contrary to the falsehoods being peddled by the opposition parties, there were no VIP movements on the day the stampede occurred.
The tragedy unfolded as a huge crowd gathered at the Akhara Marg due to which, the barricades on the other side broke and the crowd ran over the devotees waiting to take a holy dip of Brahma Muhurt on the other side. Despite specific ghats and routes designated for devotees in specific regions, the devotees were keen on bathing at the Triveni Sangam in the auspicious muhurt.
Samajwadi Party leaders resorted to disinformation to score political points against the CM Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. Recently, SP MP Jaya Bachchan claimed that the water in Prayagraj is contaminated as dead bodies of stampede victims have been thrown in the holy Ganga river. She also dismissed the government figures of the number of devotees visiting Mahakumbh. Unsurprisingly, Bachchan’s comments were devoid of any factual basis.
Similarly, Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav earlier claimed that contrary to official numbers given by the administration, thousands of people died in the stampede.
The Samajwadi Party, however, is peddling lies and politicising a tragedy so much so that it is putting up posters boasting how they would organise a grand and special Ardhkumbh in 2033 unlike how the BJP government organised Mahakumbh. Basically, the Samajwadi Party is telling the BJP that “you don’t know anything, I will show you how it’s done” and conveying the message to the people of Uttar Pradesh that the Akhilesh Yadav-led party can host a better, safer and grander Kumbh than the BJP.
As the Samajwadi Party is subtly suggesting that the success of Mahakumbh under the BJP administration is marred by imagined failures, let’s stroll down memory lane to recall how the Samajwadi Party government organised the 2013 Kumbh in Prayagraj. From the stampede during the Maha Kumbh to not spending adequate money and doing proper crowd management, hundreds of irregularities took place in his government.
Then Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav could not find a better person to entrust the responsibility of organising Kumbh than Azam Khan. Azam Khan was made the chairman of the committee of the Kumbh Mela. The now-jailed Azam Khan probably had no interest in the Kumbh, the biggest gathering of Hindus, and during that time he was busy running his parallel government in Rampur and setting up Jauhar University.
Under Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan’s watch, 42 people were killed in a stampede at the railway station of Prayagraj on 10th February 2013 on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya. The report about this accident also came out later. One of the reasons for this accident was that the state government had not arranged for enough buses. After this accident, Azam Khan offered his resignation in a typical political drama but Akhilesh Yadav refused to accept it. Two days after the accident, Akhilesh Yadav went to Prayagraj and after roaming around in the car, he went back.
The apathy towards Hindu devotees and irregularities in the fair’s organisation were not limited to this. The CAG report revealed that the date for completion of all the works for the 2013 Kumbh was initially set as 30 November 2012, but many of these works were not completed even before the fair began. Their dates were extended thrice in the meantime.
According to the CAG report, Akhilesh Yadav’s government could not complete 59% of the infrastructure work till the start of the fair i.e. 14 January 2013. That is, Akhilesh Yadav, who is currently making an issue of the wires not being installed on the poles, could not complete 60% of the work in his government till the start of the fair.
Even out of 111 road construction works, 65 were not completed even after the fair ended. Moreover, 4 projects worth Rs 26 crores could not even be started. Despite all this, the Akhilesh government informed CAG in January 2013 that all the works were completed. Besides, the Samajwadi Party government also gobbled up the centre-allocated funds for Kumbh. Out of Rs 1152 crore, Rs 341 crore was given by the central government, however, only Rs 1017 crore were spent and Rs 134 crore remained unspent. Even the additional fund of Rs 800 crore granted to the state government was not used at all. This meant that the Akhilesh Yadav-led government spent only 1% of its own pocket that Rs 10 crore as Rs 1141 crore was already given by the Central government.
The level of misappropriation was such that bus and motorcycle numbers were given for the tractors working in the fair. The CAG report said that 30 workers were shown working at two places at the same time. They were also paid. In some places, crores of rupees were spent in the name of bridge repairs and at other places money was wasted on barricading. Overall, massive corruption took place.
While the Samajwadi Party is crying hoarse over the supposed lack of safety for the Mahakumbh devotees, in 2013 Kumbh, only 5 divers were deployed to protect 12 crore people. There was 77% shortage of fire extinguishers and a 60% shortage of ambulances. During the course of the event, 67 fire incidents were reported in 2013 Kumbh, most of which were due to LPG cylinder leakage or short circuits.
The mobile laboratory proposed for testing food samples was not deployed, due to which adulterated, substandard food items were being sold to the devotees. Besides, took no care for the environment or prevent pollution.
Besides the corruption and apathy towards the safety of Kumbh devotees, there was a significant lack of coordination within the administration. The Mela was marred by inadequate waste management and a sheer lack of health services for the devotees.
Unlike the disastrous organisation of the Kumbh Mela by the Akhilesh Yadav government, the Yogi government’s Mahakumbh event is nothing short of a logistical marvel. While the stampede did taint the otherwise massively successful Mahakumbh event, the Yogi government left no stone unturned to ensure that the Hindu devotees faced no difficulties during their stay in the Kumbh Kshetra. From launching a special app for Mahakumbh, installing QR codes for services in Mahakumbh in 11 languages, installing thousands of cameras, setting up integrated control room, drone surveillance for better monitoring of the event, to have made arrangements for shuttle buses, e-autos and e-rickshaws within the fair area, the BJP government has taken numerous measures to ensure a “Divya and Bhavya” Mahakumbh.
While the Samajwadi Party government failed to provide even basic facilities for the devotees at Kumbh 2013, the BJP government managed to provide not only basic facilities but also offer luxurious experiences to the devotees and foreign tourists. The government built a beautiful Dome City and spacious and comfortable cottages. There are also speed motorboats. Special trains are also being run for the mega Hindu festival for the convenience of the devotees coming from various parts of the country. 10 lakh green toilets, hospitals and arrangements for cultural and religious events have also been made. While there was a 60% shortage of ambulances in Kumbh 2013, the Yogi government has made arrangements for water ambulances well-equipped with medical supplies and medical personnel.
To ensure seamless connectivity, the government set up 180 mobile towers in Prayagraj. A high-tech Digital Kumbh Museum has also been set up to showcase the cultural, religious and historical significance of the Kumbh Mela. In addition, cultural villages or Sanskriti Gram have also been set up in Mahakumbh Nagar to showcase the confluence of spirituality and culture.
Besides, unlike the absolute neglect of the environment by the Samajwadi Party government, the BJP administration had a special focus on the environment. In this vein, dense forests have been developed at various locations across Prayagraj through the Miyawaki technique, to ensure pure air and a healthy atmosphere for the millions of devotees.
Samajwadi Party using Kumbh Mela for political gains
Evidently, Akhilesh Yadav and the Samajwadi Party are not able to digest the fact that the BJP government could organise such a massive event with unmatched success, and attract global attention to the Hindu religious event. The Samajwadi Party’s “27 mein aayenge Akhilesh, 32 mein bhavya Ardhkumbh karayenge vishesh” posters seem to be rebranding effort to whitewash its disgraceful Kumbh 2013 mismanagement and historical disregard of Hindu sentiments. Since the times are gone when Muslim appeasement alone could win elections with a more aware and united Hindu community playing a key role in elections, the Samajwadi Party is trying to woo the Hindus.
Ahead of the elections, Akhilesh Yadav is trying to bolster his own and Samajwadi Party’s non-existent pro-Hindu credentials. The very audacity of the Samajwadi Party to project the organisation of Mahakumbh by the BJP government as a failure is laughable, considering how the party failed to provide even basic facilities to devotees in Kumbh 2013 when far less number of people visited Prayagraj, while Yogi government’s organisation of Mahakumbh hosting a rough total of about 45 crore people has been spectacular.
The Mahakumbh is truly “Maha” in all senses. The Hindu festival is expected to generate Rs 2 lakh crore in revenue due to spending on accommodation, food, transportation, retail and other services. Besides, the event is generating 5 to 6 lakh temporary jobs and also allowing local businesses to thrive. The event is estimated to attract over 30 lakh foreign tourists. While the unfortunate stampede should not be downplayed, however, the assertion that the organisation of the Mahakumbh event by the Yogi administration is a failure is more a political lie than a lived truth.
Akhilesh Yadav, whose politics revolves around the M-Y (Muslim-Yadav) formula and whose father ordered the firing of bullets on Hindu Karsevaks in Ayodhya in 1990, now wants to tell the people that the Samajwadi Party somehow is more concerned about Hindus than the BJP which is seen as a pro-Hindu party. While the Kumbh 2013 under SP government was less of a spiritual convergence and more of a mismanagement marathon, now the party is setting its eyes on organising grand Ardhkumbh as if the Hindus have forgotten Samajwadi Party’s past fiascos.
Samajwadi Party’s credibility to organise a large-scale Hindu religious event like Kumbh is thinner than the patience of Hindus they have historically neglected. Not to forget, it was Akhilesh Yadav who banned the 84-Kosi parikrama around the Ram Janmbhoomi in Ayodhya in 2013 to appease its Muslim vote bank. This is the same Samajwadi Party which on one hand wants to position itself as somewhat pro-Hindu, and on the other, it financially supports Muslim rioters and Waqf Board in Sambhal.
Apparently, the Samajwadi Party has adopted the strategy “when you cannot critique the present, promise moon for the future. While only the 2027 assembly election results will tell whether the Samajwadi Party or the incumbent BJP will get to organise the 2032 Ardhkumbh, the Samajwadi Party’s desperation is palpable. It is amusing that those who relied on appeasing Muslims, constructing lavish Haj House and donning skull caps on Eid are not relying on Hindu festivals for a political comeback. This, however, is nothing but political opportunism and an attempt to suggest that Hindus should vote for Akhilesh Yadav in the 2027 elections and that he will somehow ‘fix’ something that was never broken.
