Politics at the Kumbh Mela

By deciding to be there at the Kumbh Mela and have a darshan of a section of the sadhus (those outside the Sangh Parivar fold), the Congress (Party) president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, may have triggered off a debate with political overtones. It may be true that Ms. Gandhi's visit as such was not the only basis to the Kumbh Mela assuming some political color. The dharam sansad (clearly a political event rather than having anything to do with the religion) that the Sangh Parivar associates had organized alongside the sangam and the discussion on the Ayodhya issue as well as the display at the mela grounds of a miniature model of the proposed temple had, even otherwise, introduced a political element.

Ms. Gandhi personal preference and her right to be in Allahabad during the Kumbh Mela and take a dip at the sangam can hardly be questioned. But then, the fact that Ms. Gandhi is no ordinary citizen (for she is among those under protection under the SPG Act) makes all the difference. The very presence of such a person in the city itself is bound to put the law-enforcing agencies under a lot of strain; and when Ms. Gandhi insisted on taking a dip in the sangam at this time and going around the mela grounds (to meet a number of religious heads) there is every reason for the law-enforcing agencies and the civil administration to feel concerned.

-- The Hindu, New Delhi