One of Hinduism’s tallest monks on Thursday called chief minister Yogi Adityanath a “liar” and sought his resignation, accusing him of hiding the fatalities in Wednesday’s stampede for several hours.

“We woke up and heard (on Wednesday) that 17 people were dead. Our bathing was cancelled. Around 10.30am, the chief minister said some people had suffered serious injuries and (asked people to) ignore rumours. He didn’t mention any deaths,” Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth, Uttarakhand, told reporters.

“So I went for a holy bath with other Shankaracharyas…. Later, he called the members of the akharas and told them all was well. The akharas had cancelled their bath but they went ahead after getting a positive message from him. Didn’t he keep us in the dark when he said there was no death?”

The Shankaracharya said that in the Hindu tradition, family members fast after such incidents.

“Couldn’t we have observed a fast for a day for those we lost? You (Adityanath) deprived us of that. You made us believe that everything was a rumour. Such a serious betrayal with the saints and Sanatanis?” he said.

“Why did you lie before the country... farzi (fake) chief minister? He admitted to the deaths in the evening. Didn’t he know about it the entire day? Our chief minister is jhootha (a liar). He is not qualified to be a chief minister and should resign.”

The pontiff also lambasted Adityanath’s “tall claims” about Mela management.

“The incident took place amid tall claims (from the government).... But did it happen amid every arrangement? You (Adityanath) said 40 crore devotees were arriving. Then why was there no arrangement for so many people? You invite only so many people to an event whom you can feed and seat.”