Uttar Pradesh Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nitin Agrawal on Friday criticised the opposition, particularly the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress, for questioning the recently concluded Mahakumbh.
Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government is underreporting the number of devotees attending the ongoing Mahakumbh in Prayagraj.
As per the complaint, while addressing the gathering, Afzal Ansari said, “On this festival of faith (Mahakumbh), it is believed that a person will become pure by bathing at the Sangam shore. Sins will be washed away. If sins are washed away, it means that the path to Baikunth will open up. In the situation that is visible, it seems that no one will survive in hell. No one will survive in hell and there (in Baikunth) the house will be full.”
Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan dismissed the government figures of the number of devotees visiting Mahakumbh and also claimed that the water in Prayagraj is contaminated as dead bodies of stampede victims have been thrown in the Ganga river.
Ram Gopal Yadav accused the state government of concealing the true death toll of Mahakumbh stampede and claimed that officials were ordered not to report figures exceeding 30.
A by-election will be held in February 2025 on the Milkipur assembly seat vacated by Awadhesh Prasad's victory. Till now this by-election was pending due to a legal tangle as the BJP candidate had filed a petition against Awadhesh Prasad's victory in the assembly on this seat. However, he has withdrawn his plea. After this, the by-election has now been announced.
During this Kumbh, when Azam Khan was a minister, 42 people were killed in a stampede at the railway station of Prayagraj. This accident happened on February 10, 2013. This day was Mauni Amavasya and lakhs of devotees had come to Prayagraj to take a bath in the Ganga that day.