Former Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Dismisses Reports Claiming He Was Removed For His Stand On Organising Kumbh In Limited Capacity

Former Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has dismissed reports that say that the Bharatiya Janata Party fired him owing to his government's stand on organising Kumbh in a symbolic manner amid the pandemic.

Rawat spoke to a section of the media and said that he does not think that the seers participating in the Kumbh were displeased with him.

He has been quoted as saying: "The seers understood the urgency of the pandemic and were ready to go ahead with whatever format of Kumbh the situation allowed".

He clarified that the initial plan was to hold the Kumbh in the bhavya manner, but the situation did now allow that. The former Uttarakhand CM added that the state government was strictly following guidelines issued by the Centre and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The PM "had no issues with the concept of a pratikatmak (symbolic) Kumbh" in the wake of the prevailing pandemic.

This article mentions that akhadas were upset with Rawat and goes on to say that "there is no data on Kumbh-related infections and no way to quantify its impact" when it comes to the aspect of Kumbh being termed as a "superspreader" by sections of the media and experts.

Pitching the original report, this article in another Left aligned magazine mentions that the initial stand by the state government to organize Kumbh "in a limited capacity, in compliance with Covid norms" did not go down well with the akhadas and irked seers.

Trivendra Singh Rawat told a section of the media that he "had apprehensions about the infection spreading" and therefore his government made plans accordingly. He has been quoted adding that it was not right for him to comment on anything as the facts are before people.