Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, on whose watch the deadly Mahakumbh stampede took place on January 29, has blamed his “kismat (luck)” for the incident although it is the responsibility of his government to ensure safety and security at the event.

Adityanath on Tuesday launched a tirade on the Opposition for alleging the toll was much higher than his government’s claim of 30 deaths, calling them “vultures” and “anti-Sanatani” while hailing his administration’s “swift measures” in the aftermath of the calamity during the holy dip on Mauni Amavasya. The chief minister suggested a “conspiracy” but provided no proof.

Hema Malini, Adityanath’s BJP colleague and MP, said the Kumbh stampede was “not a big incident”.

The chief minister told reporters at the Kumbh: “Our priority was to make it (the Mahakumbh) a zero-incident event. But this unfortunate incident happened. The administration and other organisations responded quickly and hospitalised the injured. It was unfortunate that some people fell victim to the incident. We expressed our condolences to the families and also announced financial support.”

“The injured got proper treatment. There are still some injured persons under treatment at Prayagraj Medical College. Me, my ministers and officers met the injured persons at the hospital. I was surprised to hear from them that there was no problem with the arrangements at the Mela. Call it my destiny (kismat) that such a situation arose,” Adityanath added.

According to eyewitnesses, the stampede took place after the police blocked all the pontoon bridges leading to the Sangam and also hit them with batons, triggering a panicked rush. Many devotees have been alleging that special arrangements have been made for VVIPs and sadhus of influential akharas while they have been treated with disdain.

For several hours after the stampede, Adityanath and his administration had not acknowledged any casualty and it was only after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah condoled the deaths on social media did the chief minister come out and announce a compensation and a probe while his police said 30 people had died.

Expressing his anger at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for saying in Parliament that thousands of devotees had died in the stampede and at Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav for alleging his government was suppressing the real figure of deaths, Adityanath on Tuesday called them “anti-Sanatan” and compared them with “vultures”.

“Their anti-Sanatan character and their vulture-like focus are before us. They have been constantly spreading misinformation about the Mahakumbh from the very first day. It is an attack on Sanatan Dharma,” he said.

“The Congress president said thousands of people died during Mauni Amavasya at the Mahakumbh. It is unfortunate that such a senior leader of the oldest political party of the country makes such a statement. Same was the remark of the SP president.”

“It is wrong that no data (on deaths) was provided. The administration provided data and I also presented the figures before the people,” Adityanath said. “We have set up an inquiry and we all will see what happens to the conspirators,” he added.

Speaking to reporters at the Parliament complex, Hema Malini said: “We had gone to the Kumbh.... We had a nice bath.... Everything was well-managed. It is right that the incident (stampede) took place.... Itna kuch bada nahi hua tha (It was not a very big incident). I don’t know how big it was. It is being exaggerated.”