Arguing over Yamuna cleaning before Chhath Puja, BJP MP calls govt official ‘besharam, ghatiya aadmi’ | Video
Speaking about the argument, BJP MP Parvesh Verma said that the AAP-ruled Delhi government is pouring poisonous chemicals into the Yamuna River and if he has to “talk in this manner for the benefit of the people” then he has no problem.
Ahead of Chhath Puja this year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi continued to spar over the cleaning of Yamuna River on Friday, with the saffron camp's leader Parvesh Verma landing in controversy after a purported video showed him using sensitive language while talking to an official of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). Verma is among many BJP leaders who have accused the AAP of pouring poisonous substance into the Yamuna and harming the citizens of the national capital ahead of the Chhath celebrations wherein people take dips in the river. In the latest video, the BJP leader is heard asking a DJB official to take dip in the river and also calling him “besharam, ghatiya aadmi (shameless, horrible person)”.
In the video, which was shared by AAP MLA and DJB chairman Saurabh Bharadwaj on Twitter, BJP's Verma is heard saying to the official that they could not clean the Yamuna for eight years and now before Chhath, they are pouring poisonous substance into the river. The official in response tells the BJP MP that the cleaning substance has been approved by the central government's National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and also the US FDA.
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“Tu yahan pe dubki laga chal. Yahan pe log ayenge dubki lagane, tu lagake dikha pehle. (You take a dip in the river. People will come here to take dips but show us that you can do so first),” Verma can be heard in the video.
Sharing the post, Bharadwaj said that BJP leaders are “stopping work [and] misbehaving” with officials as the Delhi government is preparing for the Chhath Puja.
In a subsequent tweet posted by Bharadwaj, some men can be seen countering Verma and other BJP leaders who had accompanied him, saying they only want the Yamuna River to be cleaned and don't care about which party is getting that done.
Speaking about his heated argument with the DJB official in the video, Verma told news agency ANI that on reaching a Chhath ghat near Yamuna, he and other BJP leaders found “containers with poisonous chemicals there”. “This chemical will be put into river. [I] asked the official present there who'll be responsible for harm to people,” the BJP MP was quoted as saying.
He further stated that he repeatedly asked the officials not to put chemicals into the river, and only got angered when they did not listen to him. “If I have to talk in this manner for the benefit of the people of Delhi, then I have no problem, it's right,” Verma added.
On Thursday, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari made similar accusations against the Delhi government, saying that it is trying to hide its failure to clean the Yamuna by spraying toxic chemical in the river. Addressing a press briefing, Tiwari claimed that the people who were spraying the chemicals “fled immediately” after seeing them and that the saffron camp has registered a complaint in the matter.
Bharadwaj later slammed the BJP leader, saying it is “stupid” and “absolutely incorrect” to say poisonous chemical is being used to clean Yamuna. He added that the leaders of the saffron side should learn “something about science and technology”.
Chhath Puja will be celebrated this year on October 30. Delhi lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has given his nod for designated ghats in the capital for the celebrations, and asked the AAP-led government to ensure all the places are cleaned properly and basic facilities are provided to the devotees.
