Nashik: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday alleged that a scam had taken place in the ₹35,000-crore works planned for the Simhastha Kumbh Mela, drawing a parallel with the alleged donation irregularities surrounding the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
“BJP’s focus is on taking money out of the temple donation box and the Simhastha Kumbh,” Thackeray alleged. He demanded a white paper on all Simhastha-related works and appealed to Nashik residents to question ruling-party MLAs and corporators about where the public money had gone.
Thackeray visited Nashik amid growing public anger over alleged poor-quality Kumbh works and pothole-ridden roads. Questioning the expenditure, he said that people should be free to ask how donations made for the Ram Temple were used without being labelled anti-Hindu.
He also accused the BJP of using sadhus and mahants for electoral purposes and maintained that the decisions concerning Kumbh works were political rather than merely administrative.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) will hold a morcha in Nashik on August 17 over the pothole issue and alleged irregularities in Kumbh works. Thackeray urged Nashik residents to set aside political ideologies and participate in the protest as citizens of Nashik.
