Shahi snan in Haridwar: Lakhs ignore Covid concerns to take holy dip
Dehradun (Uttarakhand): Throwing caution to the wind amid rising cases of coronavirus, thousands of seers congregated on Wednesday at Har ki Pairi in Haridwar to take a dip in the Ganga during the third shahi snan of the Kumbh mela.
The royal bath' marked Mesh Sankranti and Baisakhi, and fell two days after a similar convergence of sadhus' and other devotees for the second shahi snan -- events where following social distancing norms appears almost impossible.
By noon between eight and 10 lakh people had take a bath in the river, Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar, who was supervising the arrangements at Haridwar, said.
Sadhus from four of the 13 akhadas were through with the snan' by this time. The officer said the event was going on without any hindrance.
He said the crowds at the Ganga ghats were much smaller than expected at the third shahi snan - considered the most important in the series - and attributed this to the Covid restrictions in place.
Police personnel were seen distributing masks among people in the Mela area.
However, social distancing norms were violated openly by the seers when they and their followers descended the steps at Har ki Pairi to wade into the river.
No masks were worn by a large proportion of them.
The seers from the akhadas took the dip along with their revered deities carried in ornate palanquins at Har Ki Pairi, which was reserved exclusively for them.
Lakhs of common devotees bathed at the other ghats of the river in Haridwar and Rishikesh.
Seers and Naga sanyasis of the Niranjani Akhada led by Acharya Kailashanand Giri were the first to bathe in the river along with Anand Akhada seers. They were followed by the Joona Akhada, which has the highest number of sadhus led by Swami Avadheshanand.
The Mahanirvani Akhada seers came next, as the batches followed one another according to their allotted time slots.
All akhadas have to finish taking a dip at Har Ki Pairi before sunset so time management is very important, Mela IG Sanjay Gunjyal said.
The shahi snans, and the Kumb Mela, have raised concerns over their role in possibly adding to rising coronavirus cases in the country.
Uttarakhand recorded its highest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases on Tuesday with 1,925 people testing positive.
Dehradun with 775 cases and Haridwar with 594 were the biggest contributors to the day's tally.
On the initial hours of the third shahi snan, the DGP said there was no disorder anywhere. He said this was because of the expansion of infrastructure in Haridwar over the past few months, including the addition of more ghats which has helped in better crowd management.
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Post poll TN alliances divided in supporting TVK
Chennai (PTI): In a changed political atmosphere in Tamil Nadu with no single political party having a simple majority to form the government post the Assembly election, opinion is divided among the allies led by the Dravidian majors in extending external support to Vijay-led TVK in government formation.
Both the DMK and AIADMK are at unease as the Congress and also a section in the AIADMK express willingness to extend external support to Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagtam in forming the government.
Post poll, the TVK's political prospects appear to impact alliances led by both the Dravidian majors in a different manner, triggering a speculation of a split.
Leema Rose Martin, who won from Lalgudi on an AIADMK ticket, has stated that talks were underway on extending support to the TVK. Her son-in-law Aadhav Arjuna, who won from Villivakkam is TVK's general secretary.
On May 5, former AIADMK minister O S Manian, emerging from his meeting with party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, stated that AIADMK would not support TVK in forming the government.
The AIADMK, which finished third in the elections with 47 seats has cancelled its meeting of MLAs designate on Wednesday amidst a difference in extending external support to the TVK, which won 108 seats, including two seats by its founder Vijay.
As Vijay is gearing up for his swearing-in on May 7, the police have tightened security at his residence here. The party has lodged its MLA-elect at a resort in Mamallapuram and has simultaneously engaged in talks with the Congress and AIADMK, a source said.
The DMK that won 59 seats on its own, has convened a meeting of its newly elected legislators on May 7 evening and the party is likely to elect the youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin, who won from Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni as its legislature party leader.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal admitted that TVK chief Vijay requested the Congress for support to form the government.
"The INC is clear that the mandate in Tamil Nadu is for a secular government, committed to protecting the Constitution in letter and spirit. The INC is determined not to allow the BJP and its proxies to run the government of Tamil Nadu in any manner. Thiru Vijay has also spoken about drawing inspiration from Perunthalaivar Kamaraj," he said.
Accordingly, the Congress leadership has directed the TNCC to take a final decision on Vijay’s request, keeping in view the sentiments of the state as reflected in the electoral verdict, Venugopal said in a statement.
DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai slammed the Congress decision and said the move to ally with TVK, pledging the support of its five MLAs to the party, was tantamount to "backstabbing the DMK and the people of Tamil Nadu."
"They have betrayed the mandate given by the people. Even before the ink on the returning officer’s signature on the victory certificate has dried, they have chosen to go ahead with this alliance," he told PTI.
The most important question was who took this "foolhardy decision, and how is it going to backfire on the Congress?" he asked.
"I don’t think they had any serious deliberation on this. The larger issue is their opposition to the BJP, which is their ideological enemy. We have supported the Congress throughout. It was our leader M K Stalin, who named Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate when the BJP and RSS were criticising him. And now, within a day, they say they are supporting TVK. This is not the mandate of the people of Tamil Nadu,” Saravanan said.
The Congress' exit from its long-standing alliance with the DMK will be a significant moment in the political scenario of the state, commentator and political analyst Sumanth Raman said.
The Congress may be betting on the TVK as a long-term partner option, but that comes with risks, as the TVK is as yet an unknown quantity, he said.
"For the DMK, if the TVK+Congress becomes the choice of the minorities as it well could, it is an existential threat. It was the minority vote that gave the DMK alliance a 12%-15% cushion in the polls. If that goes, their chances of winning drops dramatically," Raman said on 'X.'
The Congress won 5 seats. However, DMK's other allies, the IUML, VCK, CPI and CPI (M) and DMDK have categorically stated that they would not support TVK.
As of now, the TVK requires the support of 11 MLAs to attain a simple majority of 118 to form the government.
The PMK, which won 4 seats and AMMK one - both allies of AIADMK - have not announced their decision yet.
"AIADMK’s real post-result drama may not be outside the party, but inside it. Whispers from the west and north suggest that a Coimbatore hand and a Villupuram voice may soon ask the question everyone is avoiding: Is it time to save the party from the leadership, before the cadre are forced to do it themselves? In politics, coups don’t begin with slogans. They begin with silence, phone calls and “review meetings,” Aspire Swaminathan, who is credited with founding the AIADMK IT wing in 2014, said on 'X.'
He has resigned from the AIADMK in 2021 and now acts an as independent political analyst.
