Uproar in LS as Oppn protests over Modi's Kumbh statement

The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Tuesday amid noisy protests by the opposition seeking to ask questions on the statement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Maha Kumbh.

Earlier, the House proceedings were adjourned till 1 pm soon after Modi made a statement on the Maha Kumbh and opposition members rose in their seats in protest.

They also demanded the inclusion of stampede deaths in the statement.

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said the prime minister should have paid homage to those who lost their lives in the stampede.

"I wanted to support what he was saying. Kumbh is our tradition, history and culture. There was also a complaint that he did not pay homage to those who lost their lives (in the stampede in the Mahakumbh)," Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament.

"The other thing I wanted to say is that the youth that went to the Kumbh need another thing from the PM, they need employment. The prime minister should speak on employment," the Congress leader said.

Thirty people were killed in a stampede at the Mahakumbh on January 29.

When the House reassembled, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw responded to a debate on demands for grants of his ministry.

When the House took up the debate on demands for grants for the Jal Shakti ministry, opposition members continued protesting in the Well of the House, forcing the Chair to adjourn the proceedings for the day.

Making a statement in the Lok Sabha, Modi said the success of the Maha Kumbh was a result of the contributions of countless people from the government and society.

"We witnessed the enthusiasm and excitement of the Maha Kumbh in India for about one and a half months. The way millions of devotees came together with devotion, rising above the concerns of convenience and inconvenience, is our greatest strength," Modi said.

"The nectar of unity is the most sacred offering of the Maha Kumbh," he said.

"The Maha Kumbh was such an event in which people from every region and every corner of the country came together. People put aside their egos and gathered in Prayagraj with the feeling of 'we' and not 'I'," he added.

Modi said the huge display of unity at the Maha Kumbh was India's strength, particularly at a time when the world was in disarray.

"The spirit of unity is so strong that it shatters any attempts to break it," he said.

"We have always said that unity in diversity is the speciality of India and we have experienced its grand form in Prayagraj Maha Kumbh. It is our responsibility to continue enriching this feature of unity in diversity," the prime minister said.

He said people speaking different languages and dialects chanting 'Har Har Gange' on the banks of the Sangam gave a glimpse of 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat', which increased the feeling of unity.

The prime minister likened the Maha Kumbh to important milestones in the struggle for independence when the self-esteem of the country was awakened.

"Be it the war of independence in 1857, the time of Bhagat Singh's martyrdom, the call of Chalo Delhi given by Netaji Subhas babu or the Dandi March of Mahatma Gandhi, India achieved independence by seeking inspiration from such milestones in time," Modi said.

"Prayagraj Maha Kumbh is a similar significant milestone that reflects the spirit of an awakened nation," he said.