Prayagraj/New Delhi: As the Mahakumbh 2025 came to an end, the political struggle within the BJP seems to have intensified. Judging from the thousands of pictures at the Mahakumbh, the two combatants appear to be Narendra Modi and ‘Yogi’ Adityanath.
Meanwhile, visuals on TV of Amit Shah bathing at the Kumbh have added another dimension to the struggle for being seen as the ‘successor’ to Modi.
Modi is serving a third term as prime minister, having been unable to secure a majority for the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Modi in all photographs is portrayed as much taller than Adityanath, despite their respective heights being 1.7 metres and 1.63 metres. At a casual glance, Modi appears much bigger, but to the politically trained eye, this seemingly simple imagery is telling of deeper optics and projection between Modi and Adityanath.
The conflict between the two leaders is believed to have played a major role in the BJP’s dismal performance in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections, where the opposition INDIA bloc won more seats than the BJP and the state having rebuffed the ruling party’s ‘Mission 80’ dream.
And now, the Mahakumbh has become their new battle ground, even as Modi has publicly praised in his blog the “leadership of Yogi ji” as allowing the Maha Kumbh to be a “success” – something that could possibly be a ploy for the prime minister to insert himself into the narrative.
Mahakumbh 2013
To put things in context, we have to rewind to the 2013 Mahakumbh.
That Modi was named for the top may have been owed in part to the buzz at the 2013 Kumbh, even if the formal announcement came much later.
Modi came to power in 2014 with full might of the Hindu voter base. The 2013 Kumbh may have well acted as an amplifier for his political and electoral clout all over the country.
But now, after serving for over a decade as prime minister and being set to cross 75 years of age this year, there is no sign of Modi following the ‘rule’ of purging elders as margdarshaks at that age. This ‘rule’ was used by the Modi-Shah combine to purge senior leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi and L.K. Advani, and to eliminate challengers to their hegemony within the BJP.
Now, Shah among other BJP leaders have changed their stance, having made multiple statements that Modi will carry on as there is “no such provision in the BJP’s constitution” and that “Modi ji will lead the country till 2029 and Modi ji will also lead the coming elections”, clearly indicating that Modi will still be a contender for prime minister for 2029 and ‘beyond’.
Also read: Modi’s ‘New Consciousness’ Post Maha Kumbh is Not Actually New, Just Rehashed Old Ideas
Churning at the Mahakumbh
This writer lived in the Mahakumbh this year for about a month. People visiting the Kumbh before the Mauni Amavasya stampede on the intervening night of January 28 and 29 were singing Adityanath’s praises. His popularity does not sit easily with Modi-Shah, who have made their designs for ‘2029 and beyond’ very clear.
But it is hard to separate Adityanath from the propaganda over the “success” of the Mahakumbh, as if it were a party or Sangh event.
Contenders for the number two position like Vasundhra Raje, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Raman Singh, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari have already been pushed out from the race. Adityanath is the only other candidate from within the BJP barring Shah who, by virtue of also being the head of a math, could potentially challenge Modi.
Like in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when control over the polls and who received tickets was a centralised affair, it is reliably learnt that all the strings for the management of the Mahakumbh this year were being pulled from New Delhi.
A good way to ensure this was to involve a foreign firm, EY.
Reportedly, EY was roped in to draft Gujarat’s port policy and bagged “as many as 87 contracts for Rs 88.05 crore” from the Union government between 2017 and 2022, as per the Indian Express.
As per Gaurav Taneja, partner and leader for government and public services at EY, “EY India has supported with the Government of Uttar Pradesh in ensuring standards of public administration to achieve GOUP’s [the Uttar Pradesh government’s] vision of a Divya, Bhavya, Digital Mahakumbh Mela 2025.”
He added in his LinkedIn post that the “layouts, accommodation, water, sanitation and waste management, partnerships, events, city beautification, media, culture & tourism, and more” at the Kumbh were done with EY’s “strategy”.
The second check, say local Adityanath supporters, was placed by creating a new Mela authority with officers allegedly close to the Modi regime who dealt with EY directly, allegedly bypassing Yogi and the chief minister’s office.
Experienced officers like former Prayagraj commissioner Ashish Goel, who was in charge of the 2019 Ardh Kumbh, were not included in the beginning, perhaps due to their proximity to the Adityanath government. (Interestingly, the Ardh Kumbh was deliberately sought to be rebranded as a ‘full’ Kumbh by the Modi government as it happened to fall in the same year as the general elections in 2019.)
Keep in mind that of the Mahakumbh’s projected Rs 7,500 crore budget, the Uttar Pradesh government was reportedly “allocated Rs 2,500 crore for organising the Mahakumbh”. The amount was “Rs 2,500 in the 2023-24 budget and Rs 621.55 crore for the financial year 2022-23.”
Meanwhile, the Union government gave a special grant of Rs 2,100 crore for the 2025 Mahakumbh. The projected earnings are Rs 2 lakh crore.
Shah has been present for the monitoring and execution of all of Modi’s important projects. He has also visited Prayagraj for the Mahakumbh and was in fact there just two days before the stampede. Many have alleged that VIP protocols that were followed at the Mela as well as the closing of pontoon bridges during important bathing days were among the reasons for the stampede.
From the outside, it seemed fair to demand justice and transparency for the deaths at the Kumbh stampede. But inside the BJP, something else appeared to be brewing. File photo: Facebook/MYogiAdityanath.
The stampede
The stampede was a pivotal point in the establishment of the “blame and credit” debate for the Mahakumbh, because it is still not known who ordered the over 28 pontoon bridges to be closed on the eve of Mauni Amavasya, which was sure to draw massive crowds.
The opposition was quick to attack Adityanath and the charge received a boost with some religious leaders also joining them.
From the outside, it seemed fair to demand justice and transparency for the deaths. But inside the BJP camp, something else appeared to be brewing.
Supporters of Adityanath say he was already on the back foot and not really in charge of the Mela until that point. It was managed by “centrally aligned bureaucrats implementing a corporate plan”, as per them.
The idea to close the pontoon bridges couldn’t have been Yogi’s plan, they say, “because being the head of the Gorakhnath Math, he has previous experience with the Kumbh and would not close the bridges especially on the busiest Shahi Snan days. This would be against common sense.”
Another straw in the wind suggesting a ‘Modi control’ of the Kumbh is the placements of religious akharas. Most religious orders and akharas were removed from their traditional camping grounds and moved way back to the Jhusi area. The ones with political patronage got the better locations; meanwhile, most religious leaders or spiritual orders were given little influence over decision-making or the organising of the Mela.
Adityanath’s supporters ask, “Why would Yogi act against his fellow monk brothers? Most akharas have long ties with the Gorakhnath Math.”
Once media reports, eyewitness and survivor testimonies started to circulate, questioning the official death toll, all the attention was shifted to the Uttar Pradesh administration. Modi and Shah both immediately handed over the responsibility through phone calls to Adityanath to clean up the mess.
Maybe the Modi-Shah ‘double engine’ was trying to make Adityanath the fall guy.
Adityanath was forced to control the damage by forming a judicial inquiry committee and asked Goel and another senior IAS officer to oversee the conduct of the Mela. The state police’s special task force reportedly also investigated the stampede.
Also read: Is 2025 Maha Kumbh Really a ‘Rare’ Event Held After 144 Years?
NGT and water reports
As Adityanath’s countermeasures against the mismanagement gained ground, the second attack from two Union government agencies, the Central Pollution Control Board and the National Green Tribunal, came, questioning the water quality at the confluence in Prayagraj, declaring it unfit for bathing.
Perhaps the Rs 40,000 crore Namami Gange project, which failed to clean the river in the previous decade, added to the devotees’ woes. And plus, if we look at the track record of the Modi government on environment, it is apparently more tilted towards industries and not the environment. From deforestation to mining and GMOs, the Modi government’s laws are hurting the environment.
VIP culture
The final straw is the number of central BJP leaders, celebrities and cronies, including industrialists, being given the royal Shahi Snan in Prayagraj, even as ordinary pilgrims – the heart and soul of the Mahakumbh – had to walk for miles and suffer from all sorts of inconvenience.
Why the VIP ghats? Indian spiritual traditions, especially around the Kumbh, advocate austerity and humility, yet none of it was on display by the government’s ministers or their cronies.
Considerable doubt remains about who was really in charge.
The rift between the Modi-Shah and Adityanath camps has now become an open secret. Adityanath’s supporters say they would not be too shocked if new evidence surrounding the stampede deaths miraculously finds itself in the media “to discredit Yogi ji further”.
But the stampede at the New Delhi railway station that killed at least 18 people, with the Union government first struggling to deny it and then rushing to unsuccessfully curb reporting on it, has shifted the media glare back to Modi.
When the dust settles on the Kumbh, it would be interesting to watch the next steps by both Modi-Shah and Adityanath to try and seize control of the narrative.
If the latter succeeds, he will pave the way for being seen as the top challenger to Modi.
But if he succumbs, he will be made to join the long list of veteran BJP leaders made to retire too early.
Indra Shekhar Singh is an independent agri-policy analyst and writer.
