On the banks of the Yamuna, a political tussle for Purvanchali support

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has been visiting ghats along the Yamuna, and the BJP has said the river is already clean enough for ritual sipping during the festival.

Ten years ago, the AAP had promised a “revived” and “picnic ready” river in its 70-point manifesto. In 2020, after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) expressed serious concern over Yamuna’s pollution, AAP renewed its pledge to clean the river by 2025.

In 2021, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Chhath Puja celebrations on the banks of the river were prohibited, which handed the BJP an opportunity to accuse the AAP of being “anti-Purvanchal”. That year, the BJP made preparations to hold pujas elsewhere in Delhi.

A year later, the AAP government opened artificial ghats and promised a “Bhavya Chhath”, even as froth on the river was a visual embarrassment.

In January 2025, a month before the Delhi Assembly election, a committee appointed by the NGT found that 83 per cent of industrial units in Sonipat in BJP-ruled Haryana were releasing poorly treated effluents into the Yamuna. The AAP, facing BJP attacks over its failure to clean the Yamuna, seized on the chance to accuse the Haryana government of deliberately “poisoning Delhi’s waters”.

With the BJP now in power both in the Assembly and the MCD, the party has promised a “foam-free” Chhath.

Councillors, MLAs, MPs, and ministers from the party have been out in strength, inspecting preparations and projecting the image of a “clean, revived Yamuna”. The Delhi BJP moved into its new headquarters on DDU Marg on the first day of the festival.

Earlier this week, during a visit to Vasudev Ghat, Chief Minister Gupta pointed to motorboats spraying defoamer on the river. “We have used a chemical-free, lab-tested foam remover. Aaj ye poori Yamuna swachh hai… yeh hamari aastha ka sawal hai,” she said.

Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra, who accompanied Gupta, said, “During the AAP’s tenure, they closed the Yamuna. Today, we’ve shown that cleaning can be done.” This time, Mishra said, “our sisters will break their [Chhath] fast standing in clean water. Yeh sirf safai nahi, yeh samman ka sawal hai.”

At a press conference, Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the BJP of a “chemical cover-up”.

“The same BJP that had accused us of poisoning the Yamuna is spraying chemicals in the river and calling it sacred. If this isn’t double standards, what is?” Bharadwaj said.

Earlier this month, AAP had circulated a 2022 video of Parvesh Verma, now a Minister in the Delhi government, arguing with officials spraying defoamer, calling it “deadly”. The BJP’s U-turn, Bharadwaj said, “is all drama for the Bihar elections”.

For the BJP, this Chhath is both an opportunity and a test. If the Yamuna appears cleaner, the party will be able to claim progress towards delivering on a major Delhi election promise and offer a powerful visual for Bihar — clean ghats, clear water, and devotees praying without froth in sight.

A return of the foam could, on the other hand, undercut the narrative of the “four-engine sarkar” of the Centre, Delhi government, office of the LG, and the MCD working effectively and in sync.

“AAP only promised. We’ve delivered a clean Yamuna, open ghats, and respect for faith,” Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva claimed this week, noting that spokesperson Dr Anil Gupta had “even drunk Yamuna water live on TV”.

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