West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been criticised by BJP leaders over her "Mrityu Kumbh" comment, but got a supporter in Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the 46th Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth in Uttarakhand.
Ms Banerjee, alluding to the stampede at the Maha Kumbh in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj, and other issues such as traffic jams hundreds of kilometres long, high level of faecal coliform in water, etc had criticised the organisers of the massive religious gathering for bad planning.
"This is Mrityu Kumbh... I respect Maha Kumbh, I respect the holy Ganga Maa. But there is no planning... How many people have been recovered?" Ms Banerjee said in the Bengal assembly, pointing at the stampede that killed 30 people on January 29 when crowds surged ahead of an auspicious day for taking a holy dip.
While BJP leaders from the Centre as well as Bengal strongly condemned Ms Banerjee over her comments which they said hurt religious sentiments, Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati Maharaj alleged the Maha Kumbh organisers did not follow proper crowd management processes, a view that concurred with Ms Banerjee's claim in the assembly.
"... There was a traffic jam of 300 kilometres. If this is not mismanagement, then what is it? People had to walk 25-30 km with their luggage... The water coming for bathing is mixed with sewage water and the scientists don't consider it fit for bathing, yet you are forcing crores of people to bathe in it," Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, popularly known as Jagadguru, told news agency ANI.
"... Your job was to either stop the drains for a few days or divert them so that people could get pure water while bathing... You knew 12 years ago that the Maha Kumbh would come after 12 years, why did you not make any effort in this regard?" he said.
"When it was known beforehand that so many people would come and there is only limited space, then a plan should have been made for it... You did not make any plans... False propaganda was spread, the talk of 144 years itself is a lie... Crowd management and hospitality principles were not followed... Even when people died, they tried to hide it, which was a grave crime. In such a situation, if someone calls it names, then we won't be able to oppose it..." Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati said.
#WATCH | Bemetara, Chhattisgarh: On West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's 'Mrityu Kumbh' remark, Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati Maharaj says, "... There was a traffic jam of 300 kilometres, if this is not mismanagement then what is it? People had to walk... pic.twitter.com/pxDXWI5og7
— ANI (@ANI) February 19, 2025
BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari termed Ms Banerjee's comment on the Maha Kumbh as "hate Sanatan and Hindus". Mr Bhandari also aimed at the opposition bloc INDIA, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, calling them "haters" of Hindus and Sanatana dharma.
"Yesterday, Akhilesh Yadav was looking for Akbar in Maha Kumbh, Rahul Gandhi has still not come to visit Maha Kumbh... They are scared of Sanatan's unity, and their Hindu hatred is evident," Mr Bhandari said.
Swami Jitendranand Saraswati, national general secretary of the Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti, said Ms Banerjee is feeling "restless" on seeing the way Hindus from West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, and other parts of eastern India coming for amrit snan (holy dip).
"I feel that the upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal will prove to be a Mrityu Kumbh for your political career..." Swami Jitendranand Saraswati said.
Opposition leaders have alleged the number of dead in the Maha Kumbh stampede is much higher than the government's figure.
With inputs from ANI
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