Seer backs Mamata Banerjee's ‘Mrityu Kumbh’ remark, slams UP govt's ‘mismanagement’

The seer accused the UP government of not making "any plans" despite knowing from 12 years ago that Kumbh would come.

Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati Maharaj, in reference to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's 'Mrityu Kumbh' remark, said that if someone calls the Maha Kumbh Mela names amid the 'mismanagement' and 'deaths' then 'we won't be able to oppose it'.

Devotees take a holy dip in the Ganga river during the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela festival, in Prayagraj, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (PTI)

The seer slammed the grand religious event and said that the water with which devotees are bathing is mixed with sewage water is considered unfit for bathing by scientists, and yet "you are forcing crores of people to bathe in it".

He questioned the administration over the lack of pure water, saying that they should have either stopped the drains for a few days or divert them so that "people could get pure water while bathing".

Saraswati Maharaj also raked up the massive traffic jam issue, asking that "if this is not mismanagement then what is it?"

"You knew 12 years ago that Kumbh would come after 12 years, then why did you not make any efforts in this regard… 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," the seer added.

He further accused the administration of not making "any plans".

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, while speaking in the Bengal assembly on Tuesday, said that she respects the Maha Kumbh but, "there is no planning".

"How many people have been recovered?...For the rich, the VIP, there are systems available to get camps [tents] for as high as ₹1 lakh. For the poor, there are no arrangements at Kumbh...Stampede situation is common in a 'mela' but it is important to make arrangements," Banerjee had said.

She also claimed that the Uttar Pradesh government hid the bodies of hundreds of stampede victims. "They have hidden hundreds of bodies to bring down the toll. The Maha Kumbh has turned into a 'Mrityu Kumbh' under the BJP rule," the West Bengal CM added.

In addition, the seer also alleged that false propaganda was spread over the Maha Kumbh Mela, saying that 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," Saraswati Maharaj remarked.

The opposition has been slamming the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government over the incidents that have taken place at the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela, including the stampede and massive traffic jams.

The Maha Kumbh Mela, which began on January 13 in Prayagraj, will conclude with Mahashivaratri on February 26.