In a scathing attack on the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has accused the BJP of using the religious Maha Kumbh Mela as a political spectacle, alleging that the event was mismanaged to a deadly degree and repurposed to serve partisan interests — even going so far as to hint that there were plans to announce the next Prime Minister at the festival.
Calling the event “a political one,” the Kannauj MP told reporters at Prayagraj, where he had travelled to attend a wedding, “It’s the CM himself who is responsible for the failure of the Maha Kumbh. They attempted to turn it into a BJP event. There were plans to announce the name of the Prime Minister as well. It was not a religious Kumbh, but a political one.”
His comments come in the backdrop of the January 29 stampede in Prayagraj, where at least 30 people were killed and dozens injured, triggering nationwide outrage and questions around the handling of the mass religious gathering. Several Opposition leaders had flagged the incident as an outcome of “VIP culture” and gross administrative negligence.
Yadav also criticised the government for not only allegedly manipulating casualty numbers and financial data related to the festival but also pressuring grieving families to alter death certificates.
“The truth may not have reached everyone. Those of you who live in the area must have witnessed it firsthand,” Yadav said in a video posted by news agency PTI on social media.
VIDEO | Prayagraj: Samajwadi Party National President Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) on Maha Kumbh Mela Stampede said, “The government hides every statistic so they don’t have to pay compensation… The Maha Kumbh turned into a digital failure, and the CM himself is responsible… pic.twitter.com/P6GKgYAH33
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 20, 2025
He also alleged that surveillance infrastructure like drones and CCTVs — critical during events that draw lakhs of devotees — had either been switched off or left dysfunctional, raising further questions about accountability and preparedness.
Yadav released a booklet of suggestions he had earlier posted online for the upcoming 2025 Maha Kumbh, and referenced a Harvard University study on the 2013 Kumbh to highlight how the previous event had been better managed.
“If our party comes to power in 2027, there will be a full-fledged probe into what went wrong,” he assured.
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Right after the stampede, the former UP Chief Minister Yadav had urged “those who make tall claims of world-class arrangements” at Maha Kumbh to take moral responsibility for the deaths and asked them to resign from their positions. Yadav had also suggested to hand over the management and administration of the Kumbh to the Army.
The BJP, meanwhile, had dismissed Yadav’s charges. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in response to the Opposition’s remarks, called them “false and anti-Sanatan,” claiming that the stampede was the result of a conspiracy and vowed stringent action against those found guilty.
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