BJP says Yamuna clean enough for ritual sipping, AAP says leaders trying to fool public

Referring to his hospitalisation last year, Sachdeva said, “The world witnessed that the Yamuna had become like a filthy drain.” He blamed the previous AAP government for carrying out “loot in the name of cleaning the Yamuna”.

Highlighting “determined and sincere efforts toward the cleaning” of the river by the government,  Delhi BJP spokesperson Dr Anil Gupta sipped the water from the river at Kalindi Kunj and ITO ghats in front of reporters. Gupta also cited monitoring data claiming that the Yamuna water “has no foul smell, its oxygen level ranges between 4.5 and 5.5, and its pH is 7.5, close to normal.”

With the Chhath Puja approaching, devotees in the Capital, who worship the Sun during the celebrations, are gearing up to perform rituals on the river banks. Arrangements are ongoing to set up nearly 1,000 ghats across the city, said officials.

Taking a dig at the previous AAP government, Sachdeva said, “Whether it was Yamuna Maiya or Chhath Maiya, the Arvind Kejriwal government committed corruption…today it is because of this they are no longer in power.”

Meanwhile, senior AAP leader and Delhi state president Saurabh Bharadwaj hit back at the Rekha Gupta government. “BJP leaders repeatedly pretended to drink water from the Yamuna river in front of the media. Today, when offered a bottle of water to drink, the leader became angry and pretended to drink from the bottle as well. You look carefully and tell me whether the leader really drank the water or it was a failed attempt to fool him?” he posted on X.

In a video message on X on Sunday, he had also challenged Sachdeva and CM Rekha Gupta over their claim that the BJP government has cleaned the Yamuna in just eight months.

He  said, “Virendra Sachdeva and CM Rekha Gupta are saying that their government has cleaned the Yamuna in just eight months. I am ready to accept their claim — but both of them should come to Kalindi Kunj and drink one litre of Yamuna water each. If they do that, I will believe that they have cleaned the Yamuna. After all, who are Virendra Sachdeva and CM Rekha Gupta trying to fool?”