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A day should be reserved for visits by VIPs, said the party's Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut, adding that more than Rs 10,000 crore have been spent for the management of Maha Kumbh 2025 at Prayagraj
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The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday sought to know who was responsible for the stampede at Maha Kumbh 2025 and claimed that the closure of certain parts of the riverbank for visits by ministers leads to such situations, reported news agency PTI.
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A day should be reserved for visits by VIPs, said the party's Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut, adding that more than Rs 10,000 crore have been spent for the management of Maha Kumbh 2025 at Prayagraj.
"Where did the money go? The BJP has been doing political campaigning through the Kumbh. It wants to market the Kumbh and contest polls. This is not their faith but politics, and people lose their lives," Raut said, adding that the deaths in the early morning stampede were a "murder by the state administration," reported PTI.
Multiple casualties were feared after the stampede at the Sangam as millions of pilgrims turned up for a holy bath on 'Mauni Amavasya'.
When Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited the Maha Kumbh, a ghat was closed for a day, and when Home Minister Amit Shah visited, the entire Prayagraj was closed, the Sena (UBT) leader claimed.
"This adds to the pressure on the system, and this leads to crowding, and then a stampede takes place," Raut said, reported PTI.
Kumbh is not "event management" but it is a matter of faith, Raut said, taking a jibe at the BJP, reported PTI.
He also said people still remember the excellent management of the Maha Kumbh 2025 that took place when Akhilesh Yadav was chief minister from 2012 to 2017. Crores of people are visiting Prayagraj on Wednesday but there is no proper arrangement, he said.
Stampede at Maha Kumbh on Mauni Amavasya
Multiple casualties took place as a stampede broke out at the Sangam area of the Maha Kumbh 2025 early Wednesday as crores of pilgrims jostled for space to take a holy dip on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya.
While the Uttar Pradesh government was tight-lipped on the number of casualties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his deepest condolences to the devotees who lost their family members in the stampede at the Maha Kumbh, describing the tragedy as extremely saddening.
In a post on X, he said the local administration in Prayagraj is giving all possible help to the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said some devotees were "seriously injured".
(With inputs from PTI)
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