‘Yogi Adityanath is a liar’: Seer accuses UP CM of misleading saints on Mahakumbh stampede

A day after the stampede at the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj, a prominent seer on Thursday accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath of lying and misleading the saints.

Speaking to a local news channel, Shankracharya Avimukeshtwaranand Saraswati of Joshimath said that when the saints woke up in the morning of January 29, they heard about the stampede and decided not to go ahead with the amrit snan.

“However, the posts on X made by Yogi Adityanath were misleading. He first extended greetings on Mauni Amavasya and then posted that people should not pay heed to rumours and exercise self-restraint.”

This, the Shankracharya said, led the saints to believe that while people had been injured there were no deaths. However, because of the commotion, the akharas had already decided that they would undertake the amrit snan later in the day.

One member of the Juna akahara told this reporter that at 2 am on Wednesday itself, members from the akhara had visited other camps and spoken about the rush. The decision to defer the snan was taken in the night itself, he said.

The Shankaracharya alleged that it was only in the evening that the CM appeared on television to acknowledge that deaths had taken place.

The seer said it’s a practice in Hinduism that if someone died, people would not have food that day. “Could we not have fasted and prayed for the departed souls yesterday?,” he asked.

His ire is directed at the fact that the saints were kept in the dark despite their willingness to let the general public go first. He asked why the incident should have been hidden since it had already happened.

The Shankaracharya also said that the CM’s “lies” were so unfortunate that he must resign during the Mahakumbh itself.