New Delhi, Nov 4 (IANS ) Delhi Chief Minister Atishi announced on Monday that preparations for Chhath Puja were underway at 1,000 ghats across the city, a claim which came amid a political war among parties in the national capital over arrangements for devotees.
CM Atishi visited the Yamuna ghat at ITO to review arrangements and hit out at the BJP for allegedly indulging in politics over Chhath Puja and making baseless allegations over preparations.
The Chhath ritual, which is popular among the Purvanchali residents of Delhi, is seen as an opportunity by politicians in the national capital ahead of the next year's Assembly polls to woo voters from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
With the main Chhath rituals starting on Tuesday, the AAP government is racing against time to complete the arrangements at ghats that are likely to be used by devotees for three days.
Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva has repeatedly attacked the AAP government for its failure to clean the Yamuna and enable Purvanchalis to offer Chhath Puja in the holy river water.
He pointed to the emergence of toxic foam in the Yamuna in the run-up to the Chhath festivities as an example of the AAP government’s insensitivity towards Purvanchalis.
He said: "This foam isn’t just pollution, it’s the result of deep-rooted corruption in the AAP government."
AAP MP Sanjay Singh countered the BJP, calling it a party opposed to people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
"I myself had to sit on a dharna in the Greater Kailash area to protest against the demolition of a Chhath Ghat by a BJP corporator," he said.
On Monday, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Devender Yadav said with the Chhath Puja festival about to begin, devotees were worried about the toxic air and ammonia-polluted waters of the Yamuna.
He said the AAP government had failed to ensure that the Puvanchalis hold the puja in fresh and clean waters.
Yadav said while the AAP government and BJP leaders have been locked in verbal duels, neither the Delhi government nor the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have made arrangements for Chhath Puja.
He said that Delhi’s air has also reached hazardous levels, as the Winter Action Plan, proposed by the AAP government, has not made any impact on checking the air pollution.