Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday took the holy dip at the Sangam as part of the Kumbh pilgrimage and prayed to the Ganga and the Sun, drawing snide remarks from the state’s BJP ministers.

Akhilesh made some donations to the children of the boatmen who had gathered to see him and, in keeping with tradition, refused to reveal what he had given them.

“I took 11 dips and wished for harmony among different communities,” he said.

Akhilesh later visited a stall where hot milk was being distributed free among the devotees. He posted a video of the stall and wrote in Hindi: “Milk donation is a great donation.”

A Samajwadi leader said on the condition of anonymity that the stall had been put up at the behest of Akhilesh but the party didn’t want to boast about it.

Akhilesh also visited Sector 16 of the Kumbh Mela area where his party members had installed a statue of his late father and Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. He garlanded the statue.

His Kumbh visit fulfils a public vow he had made earlier this month. On January 14, Akhilesh had taken a holy bath in the Ganga in Haridwar on Makar Sankranti and declared: “I shall visit the Mahakumbh and offer a donation.”

Anil Rajbhar, labour and employment minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, said: “Akhilesh is always welcome at the Mahakumbh. He will know now how many people are visiting the Mela every day.”

Akhilesh had last week questioned the Adityanath government’s claim that 45 crore devotees would take the holy dip during the 45-day Mela.

“They are known for lying on every subject. They are inflating the number of devotees to gain political mileage. They have politicised religion, which is very harmful to the country,” he had said.

Deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak said: “Akhilesh is a critic of the Sanatan Dharma but appears to be under pressure from the followers of Sanatan. They forced him to visit the Sangam and take a bath here.”

Akhilesh is not known to have ever criticised the Hindu religion; he has castigated the BJP for using it as a political plank.