The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday launched a series of allegations against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming it has constructed a separate, filtered-water ghat for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use during Chhath Puja while other devotees are forced to use the polluted Yamuna river.
At a press conference, AAP’s Delhi unit president, Saurabh Bharadwaj, stated that a “fake Yamuna” has been built at the Vasudev Ghat near the ISBT. He alleged that this artificial channel is secretly filled with filtered water from the Wazirabad Water Treatment Plant to ensure the Prime Minister’s safety during his ritual, calling it a political stunt designed to win votes in the upcoming Bihar elections.
Bharadwaj contrasted this with the condition of ghats used by the general public, particularly devotees from the Purvanchal community, who, he said, are left to stand in the real, polluted river. He cited a report from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), which states that the Yamuna’s water is polluted and can cause serious diseases.
The AAP leader also accused the BJP of hypocrisy in its approach to cleaning the river. He claimed that BJP leader and current Water Minister, Parvesh Verma, who previously criticised and called a certain defoaming chemical “poison” during AAP’s tenure, is now deploying the same chemical to remove foam from the river. He alleged that workers are now made to spray the chemical as early as 5 a.m. to hide the foam from the public.
Further, Bharadwaj stated that to create an illusion of a cleaner river, the BJP-run Delhi government has diverted water from the Hathnikund Barrage that usually goes to farmers in Uttar Pradesh, thereby diluting the pollution in the Yamuna without actually reducing the pollutant load.
As proof of the river’s unsafe condition, Bharadwaj claimed he challenged Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and other BJP leaders to drink Yamuna water in front of the media, but no one accepted the challenge.
The AAP has framed these actions as a conspiracy that risks the health and lives of lakhs of Purvanchali devotees for political gain in Bihar. They asserted that those who would “deceive Chhathi Maiya” for politics cannot be trusted.