A political showdown erupted on Monday after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday referred to the Maha Kumbh Mela as ‘Mrityu Kumbh (Kumbh of Death)’ over the stampede deaths. The BJP hit back, accusing her of hostility towards Hindus.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday launched an all-out attack on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the stampede deaths and alleged mismanagement of crowds at the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, calling the religious congregation “Mrityu Kumbh (Kumbh of Death)”. Banerjee alleged that while VIPs were being given special privileges, the poor were being denied access to essential facilities.
The BJP swiftly retaliated against Banerjee, condemning her remarks as an attack on Hindus and accusing her of harbouring “disdain and hostility” toward Hindu traditions. BJP leader Amit Malviya alleged that her comments exposed Banerjee’s “hypocrisy”–appeasement for one community and outright hostility toward another.
Addressing the Assembly’s Budget Session, Banerjee slammed the BJP government, accusing it of “selling religion to divide the nation” and alleged a lack of proper planning for the ongoing Maha Kumbh religious congregation in Prayagraj.
This is ‘Mrityu Kumbh’. I respect Maha Kumbh, and I respect the holy Ganga Maa. But there is no planning. How many people have been rescued? For the rich and VIPs, there are systems in place to get camps (tents) for as much as Rs 1 lakh. But for the poor, there are no arrangements at Kumbh,” the West Bengal Chief Minister said.
Also mentioning that stampede situations are “common in a melas,” she emphasised the need for proper arrangements and questioned, “Why did you overhype such a serious event? Proper planning should have been in place. How many commissions have been sent to Kumbh after the incident?”
Banerjee further alleged that dead bodies were sent to Bengal (from Kumbh) without even a post-mortem and said, “They will claim people died of heart attacks and deny them compensation”. “We conducted the post-mortem here because you sent the bodies without death certificates. How will these people receive compensation?” she remarked.
