Lucknow, Feb 17 (UNI) Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said that instead of making proper preparations for the Maha Kumbh, the Yogi government of Uttar Pradesh invited big faces through event management companies for its publicity.
In a statement issued here, Akhilesh said that the government claimed to have made arrangements for the bathing of 100 crore devotees but did not make proper preparations for the Kumbh.
"Documented history shows that Kumbh has been taking place since the time of Harshvardhan. It has been organised for centuries, but the BJP is saying that this Kumbh is being organised for the first time. Earlier Kumbh did not happen," he said.
He said, "Any scientist and astrologer who understands planets and constellations knows that Kumbh comes every 12 years, but the calculation of 144 years that BJP is telling, no one knows from which year it has been measured, for what reason it has been measured."
The SP chief said that the public is innocent; it has faith, and it got convinced by their words.
"The BJP government is under-reporting the number of devotees who came to Kumbh. It is deliberately hiding the count. So far, 65-70 crore people have taken baths in Kumbh. Elderly people have not been able to take bath in the grand event of Maha Kumbh. The time of the Kumbh should be extended further so that all people get a chance to take a bath," he said.
Describing the deaths in the stampede at Prayagraj Maha Kumbh and New Delhi Railway Station as unfortunate, he said that the government is counting the number of people taking a dip in the Sangam but has not been able to count the correct number of dead.
"Neither the correct number of dead has come nor the information about the missing people is available," he claimed.
Akhilesh said that a large number of lives have been lost in the stampede at the railway station. "This is the failure of the government. No matter how much the BJP government tries to hide it, it will not be able to do so," he said.
He reiterated that this is not a double engine government, but a double blunder government. "Neither the state government is able to handle the system nor the Delhi government is able to look after the system. The BJP government does not want to increase business. It is giving its market to other people," he alleged.
He alleged that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is getting SP leaders arrested.
"He is not paying attention to Kumbh. These days he is spending time on social media. It is heard that he is watching reels. People show him what is being written and say that the government is being maligned, while the truth is that Samajwadi people expose the failures of the government. The job of the opposition is to protest positively and give information," he said.
The SP chief said that the government is claiming to create a five trillion economy but could not make arrangements for the poor to travel, eat, and bathe.
"This is the failure of the government. Religious events are not held for profit. The CM is saying that there will be a business of Rs 2 lakh crore from Maha Kumbh. But the traders there have gone into losses. Those who took shops suffered losses. There was no business. The BJP government used Kumbh to shine itself," he said.
UNI AB ARN