Chief minister Khattar announces restricted holiday on Chhath Puja from next year

Khattar made the announcement while addressing a gathering after offering prayers at a Chhath Puja programme organised in Sector 10A in the city. The CM also announced the construction of a permanent ghat in the district for offering Chhath prayers

Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday announced a restricted holiday in Haryana for Chhath Puja from next year.

This is the first time that a chief minister, senior ministers and political leaders have participated in Chhath Puja events organised in the city. (PTI)

Khattar made the announcement while addressing a gathering after offering prayers at a Chhath Puja programme organised in Sector 10A in the city. The CM also announced the construction of a permanent ghat in the district for offering Chhath prayers.

While interacting with the Purvanchal community at the event, Khattar said that if they face any issue, they should contact the local MLA or party officials, who shall get their problems resolved at the earliest.

This is the first time that a chief minister, senior ministers and political leaders have participated in Chhath Puja events organised in the city. Political watchers said that the population of Purvanchalis, who have migrated from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, is substantial in the city and that Chhath is the right time to reach out to them, especially with municipal and panchayat elections coming up in the district next year.

Besides Khattar, state agriculture minister JP Dalal and former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda also participated in Chhath functions organised by the Purvanchal community at different places in the city.

In his address, Khattar said that the Purvanchali community should choose a place having a source of water so that a permanent ghat for Chhath Puja can be constructed there. He said that he recently inaugurated a ghat on the banks of a canal in Karnal, spread across an area of 2,700 square feet.

In his address, the CM said that in 2014, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed the government in the state for the first time, they had given the slogan ‘Haryana Ek Haryanavi Ek’. “I don’t see any difference between you and Haryanvis. The state government makes domiciles of people who are living in Haryana from any part of the country, and are working or running their business, and the people who have lived here for five years or more are also made domiciles,” he said.

Khattar said that this festival highlights the “unity in diversity of the country.”

Sujit Camry, the state convener of Purvanchal Cell, informed that ghats were built at 50 places for Chhath Puja in Gurugram and Chhath Puja was organised by constructing such ghats in 53 assembly constituencies across the state.