Saurabh Bharadwaj reveals BJP stopped Chhath Puja on Yamuna banks during AAP govt

New Delhi [India], October 27 : AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj tore apart every lie spoken by BJP Delhi President Virendra Sachdeva, exposing with evidence how it was the BJP itself that systematically stopped Chhath Puja on the Yamuna banks for three consecutive years when AAP was in power, even as it now pretends to champion the festival ahead of the Bihar elections.
Saurabh Bharadwaj revealed that after the COVID-19 pandemic, then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had sought permission in 2022 for Chhath Puja on the Yamuna banks, but the Lieutenant Governor (LG)-controlled Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), acting under the BJP's directions, denied it.
The same ban was extended in 2023 and 2024, effectively blocking the Purvanchal community's right to celebrate. Now, with the BJP in power in Delhi and Bihar polls approaching, the LG has conveniently lifted restrictions -- exposing the party's political hypocrisy and zero concern for Purvanchali sentiments.
Addressing a press conference along with MLAs Sanjeev Jha and Kuldeep Kumar, AAP's Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, "People on social media raised their voices concerning lies about Yamuna's cleaning and that forced a highly arrogant party like the BJP to respond to our video. The expression on BJP Delhi President Virendra Sachdeva's face today made it seem as if he had been severely reprimanded. However, the problem is that instead of answering our questions, he released another video and changed the subject altogether."
Expressing disappointment at the silence from the top, Saurabh Bharadwaj elaborated, "We had hoped that the Prime Minister's Office would instruct the Delhi CM to clarify why such a fraudulent act was carried out. Surely, the Prime Minister would not participate in this deceit. But as I had suspected this morning, our doubts proved correct--barely two hours after our press conference, several TV channels reported through sources that the Prime Minister would indeed visit the same artificial Yamuna for Chhath Puja celebrations that we predicted."
Calling out the BJP's double standards, he continued, "Virendra Sachdeva has not answered why a fake Yamuna with filtered water was created for the Prime Minister, while the poor children of Purvanchal will celebrate Chhath in the dirty, sewage-filled Yamuna water. He has also not responded to whether he or Rekha Gupta will drink from the bottle of the same Yamuna water that I have been carrying with me. All their leaders have avoided answering this question."
He pointed out that this is perhaps the first time that the government in power is asking questions to the Opposition, while the Opposition, who are asking Delhiites' questions, are not being answered. "The BJP's standard operating procedure is to lie. The Prime Minister himself has taught them to lie repeatedly, so many times that people start believing it to be the truth. For the past ten days, they have been repeating a lie that Arvind Kejriwal's government stopped Chhath Puja on the Yamuna, and we were ignoring it. But since they have taken my name and asked for a response, I will give it now."
Saurabh Bharadwaj revealed that the BJP, the Central Government, and the LG were responsible for this restriction. Presenting official documents and newspaper clipping from 2021-22 to the media, he shared, "This is the order issued by the DDMA, which functions under the LG. It was first implemented during the COVID-19 period in 2021. As per point 4.2 of that order, it was clearly stated that Chhath Puja should only be performed at designated artificial ghats built across various colonies and not on the Yamuna banks. It was categorically mentioned--'No site on the Yamuna banks shall be used for Chhath celebrations. This was also reported in newspapers."
"In 2022, then CM Arvind Kejriwal believed that since COVID-19 cases had significantly reduced, this ban should now be lifted. However, by that time, Vinai Kumar Saxena had assumed charge as the LG of Delhi. 'Despite the CM's view, the LG and DDMA decided that Chhath Puja would not be held on the Yamuna banks,'" he emphasised, reading out from newspapers.
Recalling the decisions taken that year, the former Delhi minister further said, "The DDMA ordered that Chhath Puja would not be performed on the Yamuna river in Delhi. The administration issued a ban, as reported on 30 October 2022. The report also mentioned that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had previously issued directions prohibiting the immersion of any materials in the Yamuna. Consequently, all routes leading to the Yamuna were closed to prevent devotees from performing rituals directly in the river. Instead, they were asked to offer prayers at the artificial ghats built along its banks. That year, 1,140 ghats were prepared for Chhath Puja in Delhi. Contrary to what CM Rekha Gupta says, this is not the first time such arrangements are made--the Arvind Kejriwal government had created these 1,140 ghats in 2022."
He asserted that LG Vinai Kumar Saxena was behind the 2022 decision to ban Chhath Puja on the Yamuna. "CM Arvind Kejriwal had announced on 21 October 2022 that the festival would be celebrated on the Yamuna ghats, and Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot supported the move, assuring pollution control measures. But the LG publicly contradicted them, directing departments to enforce NGT's orders and allowing the puja only at DDMA-designated ghats," he said.
Saurabh Bharadwaj continued with proof, stating, "In 2023, the LG once again repeated the same DDMA order from 2021 and 2022, banning Chhath Puja at the Yamuna. When an organisation approached the Delhi High Court seeking permission to perform the rituals there, the court dismissed the plea, citing the LG-led DDMA's order, which highlighted health hazards due to the polluted water. In 2024, DDMA again repeated its old order, prohibiting Chhath Puja on the Yamuna banks. Delhi High Court again upheld DDMA's order and rejected a plea."
"But now in 2025, it's the same LG, and DDMA didn't deny permissions as well, since the BJP is in power. Along with that Bihar elections are close. PM Modi is being drawn to the Yamuna because of Bihar's elections. That is why the Prime Minister will celebrate Chhath on the artificial Yamuna with filtered water, and the real people from Purvanchal are being told to celebrate Chhath in the polluted Yamuna," he asserted.
Meanwhile, senior AAP leader and Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha stated, "Then CM Arvind Kejriwal wrote a letter in 2021 and said Chatth Puja is one of the biggest festivals in our faith and an important part of our Vedic and cultural tradition; therefore, Chhath on the banks of the Yamuna should be allowed with all precautions. After that, MLAs kept writing to the LG. The Chief Minister in 2022 had decided that puja would be on the banks of the Yamuna. Then the DDMA chairperson -- the LG -- overturned that decision and said there would be no puja there. Now their party is in power, so they have stayed all those orders."
He asked pointedly, "Did you stop puja on the Yamuna because the AAP government was in power? Taking revenge on AAP, did you prevent the greatest festival of faith for Purvanchal from being held on the Yamuna's banks? Day and night, BJP people chant 'Sanatan, Sanatan.' In our Sanatan Dharma, it is said that anyone who obstructs a puja is a rakshasa (demon); they cannot be called Sanatani. These are people with demonic tendencies. For their own political benefit, they stopped the puja, thinking they would gain some petty political advantage or that the AAP's reputation would suffer. How can they be Sanatani?"
Pointing out the double standard with the Prime Minister, Sanjeev Jha added, "Now puja is happening on the Yamuna bank, but the Prime Minister is coming to perform the puja at an artificial ghat created for him. They have made a fake Yamuna and turned even Yamuna Maiya into a mockery. Filtered water is being supplied there. In our Sanatan Dharma, Chhath is a puja that practices equality: there is no caste or religion difference; everyone enters the water together -- rich or poor -- and stands together to offer 'arghya' to the sun and prays to the sun."
"Yet even here the Prime Minister has created distinction: because he is the Prime Minister, he will stand separately and others will stand separately. How can the Prime Minister call himself Sanatani? What religion are you speaking of? Where our tradition teaches equality, you have given yourself special status. You have destroyed the core element of worship and devotion to Chhath Maiya," he asserted.
Reporting his ground visits, the AAP MLA shared, "Today I visited many ghats across Delhi. I went to the ghats at Wazirabad, Karawal Nagar, and organisers there were crying -- no tents, no ghat arrangements, no District Magistrate (DM), no Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) officers were present. More than a million people come there to perform puja."
Contrasting the situation in Bihar and Delhi, he further said, "In Bihar, BJP is playing a drama -- beating drums saying they are conducting the puja grandly -- while here people are crying. So across Delhi, in the name of arrangements and management, there is no preparation: tenders for half the places for tents have not been done; tents cannot be set up; people are being sent here and there. The government said it will conduct the puja and make arrangements,' but neither the people could do it themselves nor could the government. This mismanagement is shocking."
Invoking comparisons with AAP governance, Sanjeev Jha added, "Now people are comparing and remembering that during Arvind Kejriwal's tenure, the organisation and arrangements for the puja were excellent. Therefore, I request the Prime Minister: Chhath Maiya's worship is about equality; do not create distinctions. If you are religious, if you are Sanatani, I have full faith you will not stand on that fake Yamuna; you will stand in the same Yamuna where the sons and daughters of Purvanchal stand and offer arghya to God."
On the other hand, Kondli MLA Kuldeep Kumar stated, "The BJP's anti-Purvanchal face and its hypocrisy are now being exposed before the people of Delhi. The people of Purvanchal have understood that the BJP has been deceiving them."
Referring to the Kondli canal, which runs from the Hindon to the Yamuna and where Chhath Puja is celebrated with great fervour, Kuldeep Kumar said, "On Saturday, BJP minister Kapil Mishra reached the canal and arrogantly declared that water will not be released -- and even if it is, he will stop it. This is nothing but Kapil Mishra's arrogance, and Chhathi Maiya will break such arrogance."
He continued, "Kapil Mishra does not have the audacity to stop Chhath Puja. Even if artificial water has to be brought in, Chhath Puja will be held at the Kondli canal. Devotees from Purvanchal gathered there today and blocked the road in protest. People were angry, and the police detained the protesters and took them to the station. The administration has now assured us that water will be released into the canal. But if this assurance turns out to be false, the people of Purvanchal and the Aam Aadmi Party will not spare the BJP."
"At Vasudev Ghat, a fake Yamuna and a VVIP ghat were created for the Prime Minister, while Chhath Puja is a festival of equality where there is no discrimination. If water does not reach the canals in Dallupura, Kalyanpuri and New Ashok Nagar, then we will take the people of Purvanchal and celebrate Chhath at Vasudev Ghat itself. Let the BJP file cases or register FIRs -- Chhath Puja will take place at Vasudev Ghat," he added.
Condemning the BJP's actions, Kuldeep Kumar said, "The BJP has shown its anti-Chhath face. They lathi-charged peaceful protesters and misbehaved with women. But the Aam Aadmi Party will not back down. If water is not released into the Kondli canal, then on Monday morning, along with the people of Purvanchal, we will observe Chhath at Vasudev Ghat. The BJP should remember -- picking a fight with the people of Purvanchal will cost them dearly."