Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav castigated the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh for the frantic excavations in the state and inviting political leaders to Mahakumbh. Questioning the wisdom behind the frenzied excavations at a press conference here on Sunday, he asked, “If I say there is a Shivalinga beneath the chief minister’s residence, should it be excavated.”

He said the motive behind excavations at religious places is to create tension between communities on religious lines. Without naming Yogi Adityanath, the SP chief said, “He has on his hands lines of destruction, not development. They (the BJP) will drown the state in debt and will leave only after emptying the government treasury in 2027.”

Advertisement

Stressing that no one is invited to the Kumbh, people come to Kumbh on their own, he pointed out that “our government is spending funds on inviting political leaders and others for the Kumbh.” “Crores of people come for the Kumbh, are they invited? This is what we have learned of our religion. This government is different in the way it is deliberately adopting new methods to divert attention,” he pointed out.

Akhilesh Yadav also disclosed that most of the work on the Kumbh was still incomplete. The Ganga Expressway the UP government promised to open before the Kumbh is incomplete while several other infrastructure projects are yet to be developed. “When we raised questions on the Kumbh, the government started conducting a reality check. Now, if cases are filed against our workers, we will expose them,” he warned.

“During the SP regime, a study was done by Howard University before organisting the Kumbh. The SP is ready to cooperate with the government for the success of the Kumbh,” he said. On the issue of EVMs, he said because of the voting machines, the loser won’t be content with the defeat while the winner won’t have the confidence of victory.

Therefore, we demand that the elections should be conducted through ballot paper only. Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak hit back at Akhilesh’s comments on the preparations for the Kumbh, saying,” Akhilesh Yadav should also come to Kumbh, attain virtue and wash away his sins.”