Lucknow, Feb. 15 -- Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government is underreporting the number of devotees attending the ongoing Mahakumbh in Prayagraj.

While the state administration has officially recorded 501.1 million (50.11 crore) participants so far, Yadav claimed the actual number is around 600 million (60 crore).

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Yadav accused the government of deliberately providing lower figures to conceal its administrative shortcomings.

"By now, 600 million people (60 crores) must have taken a bath, but the government is not disclosing the actual number. They are deliberately underreporting figures so that, in the future, if someone studies the administra...