AAP vs BJP over ‘artificial Yamuna’ ahead of PM Narendra Modi's Chhath Puja dip in Delhi

AAP accused the BJP of creating an "artificial Yamuna" with filtered water for Chhath Puja, while the BJP called it a political drama.

The political rhetoric over Chhath Puja in Delhi escalated on Sunday, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Delhi government of constructing an “artificial Yamuna” with “filtered water” at Vasudev Ghat, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to take part in the festivities. The BJP dismissed the allegations, calling them “political drama” and claiming that the opposition was objecting to cleanliness efforts at the riverbank.

Water minister Parvesh Verma inspects arrangements at Chhath Ghats along the Yamuna. (X-p_sahibsingh)

Addressing a press conference on Sunday, AAP Delhi head Saurabh Bhardwaj alleged that the BJP had “built a fake Yamuna” by secretly filling a small stream at Vasudev Ghat with filtered water from the Wazirabad Water Treatment Plant, which supplies Delhi’s drinking water. “BJP is soon going to stage another drama before the people of Delhi and the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take a dip in that filtered-water Yamuna to fool the people of Delhi, Bihar and Purvanchal, and to show that the BJP has cleaned the Yamuna,” Bhardwaj said.

AAP also released a video claiming that, unlike the “fake river of filtered water,” other ghats had polluted water with high faecal coliform levels, posing health risks for devotees. AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal posted on X that “the BJP has made a mockery of the deep religious sentiments attached to Chhath Parv in Delhi,” while Leader of Opposition Atishi termed the situation “outright discrimination.”

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva countered the allegations, accusing the former AAP government of banning Chhath Puja on the Yamuna banks between 2018 and 2024.

“This is the first-ever political drama in which an opposition leader raised objections against the government’s efforts to ensure cleanliness and sanitation,” Sachdeva said, referring to Bhardwaj’s video from the Yamuna banks.

Sachdeva said the BJP government had completed basic cleaning of the Yamuna in eight months and made natural ghats available for devotees.

“The Purvanchal community of Delhi wants to ask two direct questions to the AAP leadership. On what administrative basis did the AAP government impose a ban on Chhath Puja on the Yamuna banks from 2018 to 2024? Why does AAP object to Rekha Gupta’s government ensuring sanitation and clean water at the Yamuna ghats?” he asked.

Sachdeva further said that Bhardwaj was objecting to the cleaning of Vasudev Ghat and the availability of clean water.

“While opposition parties across the country have often raised concerns about a lack of development or about unclean religious sites, this is the first-ever instance of an opposition party protesting against efforts to ensure cleanliness,” he added.

The political clash comes amid heightened efforts to woo Delhi’s Purvanchali community, which constitutes an estimated four million residents and has emerged as a key vote base in recent years. AAP has accused the BJP government of using “defoamer solutions,” a practice the BJP had opposed while in opposition, and flagged high faecal coliform levels in the Yamuna water.