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BJP MPs visit Yamuna river ghats to assess Chhath Puja arrangements
Opposing the ban on Chhath Puja celebrations on the banks of the Yamuna, Parvesh Verma and Manoj Tiwari visited various ghats on Monday to assess the situation and plan arrangements for the festival
Opposing the ban on Chhath Puja celebrations on the banks of the Yamuna river, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs Parvesh Verma and Manoj Tiwari visited various ghats on Monday to assess the situation and plan arrangements for the festival. They said that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal does not want people to celebrate the festival and slammed the Delhi government for the high level of pollution in the river.
Verma performed puja at the ITO ghat on Monday and said that all necessary arrangements will be made for November 10 festival. Tiwari visited Kalindi Kunj and planned a meeting of Chhath Puja committee members at Yamuna ghat in Sonia Vihar to discuss the arrangements.
Verma said, “Members of the Purvanchal community voted for Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi elections and made him the chief minister, but today he (Kejriwal) is stopping them from celebrating their festival. He should have got the entire Delhi administration to make elaborate arrangements for the festival. He does not want people to celebrate this festival. But now we will make the ghat for people and do puja on November 10.”
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The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has prohibited Chhath Puja on the banks of the Yamuna this year. Earlier, on September 30, DDMA banned the celebrations, but later allowed it with restrictions following protests by the BJP and the appeals to the Centre by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, and to the lieutenant governor Anil Baijal by Kejriwal.
Tiwari has been vocal against the ban. Durga puja and Dussehra celebrations were allowed but Chhath Puja was banned by DDMA in September. He mobilised the purvanchali community and held yatras in various parts of the city to galvanise support.
In a tweet, he criticised the government while citing images of the river near Kalindi Kunj covered in a thick layer of toxic foam. “The permission for Chhath puja was denied at the banks of Yamuna as this would have exposed the government.”
Tiwari said, “Had the government allowed it, we would have cleaned the ghats and made arrangements for people. The river is polluted and the government has done nothing to clean it.”
The BJP’s Delhi unit tweeted, “Devotees performing Chhat Puja forced to take dip in toxic Yamuna. This is what Arvind Kejriwal has reduced Delhi to. This is his commitment towards providing facilities to those who celebrate the festival. Shame.”
HT has reached out to the Delhi government for a comment and the copy will be updated accordingly.
