U.P. goes all out to make Kumbh a grand success

of hoaxes during the mela. On the condition of anonymity, a member of the PMA told The Sunday Guardian: “The work of the SMW will be to keep vigil on social media and inform the authorities if any hoax information was being spread during the mela. The SMW team has members from the Mela Mitras, comprising 50,000 volunteers selected to assist the administration during the mela. The SMW members are being trained by officials of the UP administration.”

The importance of the Kumbh for the Yogi government can be understood from the budget that has been sanctioned for the mela. In 2018, the UP government allotted a massive Rs 2,000 crore for the 49-day-long Kumbh Mela, which is over twice the amount spent on the last Kumbh held in 2013.

The “Maha Kumbh” is held every 12 years in Allahabad, with Ardh Kumbhs being organised every six years on a rotational basis in the four riverside towns of Allahabad, Haridwar, Nasik and Ujjain. The Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage where people gather to take a bath in the sacred river.

Three crore pilgrims are expected to be in Allahabad on a single day—on 4 February 2019, that is “Mauni Amavasya”, one of the six holy bathing days at the Kumbh. Also, the UP administration is expecting 10 lakh foreigners at the Kumbh, with an additional 20 lakh NRIs, according to the PMA.

The Kumbh Mela next year will set unparalleled benchmarks in size and grandeur. The new edition of the mela is an important event for the Bharatiya Janata Party, as it is being held just ahead of the 2019 general elections. are leaning towards the BJP, while 50% are favouring the Congress, the survey says.

However, the youths of MP Pradesh between 28 October and 10 November this year. In the survey, 22,357 voters were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The survey has a margin of error of 1 percentage point at 95% confidence level.

The survey says that the Congress is emerging as a popular preference amongst women voters, with 44% women respondents opting to vote for the Congress.

“As of now Congress is ahead of BJP by 2 percentage points in Madhya Pradesh. Congress is ahead in all regions except in Bhopal region where BJP is ahead,” the survey has observed.

In t he Mahakaushal region, which includes Chhindwara, the bastion of senior Congress leader and Chief Minister probable Kamal Nath, the Congress is leading by 3 percentage points. Similarly, in the Gwalior region, where Jyoti- raditya Scindia has a strong clout, the party is leading by 2% over the ruling BJP, according to the survey.

The only region where the incumbent BJP is doing better than the Congress is the Bhopal region and some other urban areas. Current Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is an MLA from Budhni constituency, which is adjacent to the state capital Bhopal.

The BJP is facing anti incumbency in Madhya Pradesh as the party has been in power for the last 15 years and trying hard to save its bastion.