“Must break free from blind faith…”: Raj Thackeray Mocks Kumbh Mela Rituals, Questions Ganga’s Cleanliness

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray took a swipe at devotees performing the holy dip at the Sangam during the 45-day Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Speaking at the party’s 19th foundation day event, he mimicked the bathing ritual and called for people to move beyond superstition.

"People must break free from blind faith. I wouldn’t even touch the dirty water of the Ganga, where millions have bathed," Thackeray said, adding that he refused to drink water brought from the Kumbh Mela. Mocking the tradition further, he remarked, "We see videos of people scrubbing themselves in the Ganga. And here, Bala Nandgaonkar is offering me that same water to drink! Tell me, who would drink that?"

Thackeray also questioned the government's repeated but unfulfilled promises to clean the Ganga. "Since the time of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, I’ve been hearing about Ganga’s cleanup. The truth is, it’s still polluted. No river in the country is truly clean. We just emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, yet people are rushing to the Kumbh Mela without a second thought. Understand the difference between faith and superstition," he urged.

Recalling a recent MNS meeting in Mumbai, Thackeray said several office-bearers were absent because they had gone to the Kumbh Mela. "I asked them—why commit sins in the first place if you need to wash them away? And when they returned, I even asked if they had bathed properly," he quipped.

Comparing Indian rivers to those abroad, Thackeray pointed out, "When we visit foreign countries, we see crystal-clear rivers. They don’t call rivers their ‘mothers,’ yet they keep them clean. Meanwhile, we revere our rivers but dump all the filth into them."​