Akhilesh Yadav Claims 1000 Hindu Devotees Missing from Maha Kumbh

Akhilesh Yadav: On a Wednesday Akhilesh Yadav, chief of the Samajwadi Party, claimed that around 1,000 Hindu devotees attending the Maha Kumbh in Prayag had gone missing.

The former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh has asked what was the budget allocated by the Centre for the Maha Kumbh.

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"Can anyone imagine that the chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were just deciding where the vehicles will be parked. There were a number of IPS officials who were stopping people from going for the 'snan', saying that they do not have the capacity to facilitate them," PTI quoted Yadav as saying outside the Parliament premises.

"People were being stopped at the borders. The Centre would have given a budget for the Maha Kumbh to the state government -- that should be mentioned. At a time when pages of history are being turned, the biggest loss of lives has been of Hindu devotees," he said.

"The BJP and its people should help the families of those who lost their loved ones in the Mahakumbh. Even now, 1000 Hindus are missing from the Kumbh whose whereabouts are not known. The BJP should provide information on the 1000 people who are missing," Yadav said.

"The government should find the Hindu brethren who are missing and unite them with their families. People put up posters of missing people and the government is even getting those removed," Yadav added.

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The most recent Maha Kumbh was a "defining moment in the history of India," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday.

"People put aside their egos and gathered in Prayagraj with the feeling of 'we' and not 'I'. The Maha Kumbh demonstrated that there was no distinction between big and small -- it reflected India's immense strength. It reaffirmed that the profound element of unity is deeply ingrained within us," PTI quoted the prime minister as saying in the Lok Sabha.

"Our nation, too, has witnessed such moments that have given it a new direction and awakened its people … Similarly, our freedom struggle was marked by several such turning points -- the revolt of 1857, the martyrdom of Veer Bhagat Singh, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's clarion call of 'Delhi Chalo', and Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi March," Modi added.

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