"Government is lying that Yamuna is clean.": AAP's Saurabh Bhardwaj

New Delhi [India], October 19 (ANI): Delhi AAP unit President Saurabh Bharadwaj on Sunday slammed the Delhi government under the BJP over their claims of cleaning the Yamuna and challenged Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Minister Parvesh Verma to "drink a litre of Yamuna water" to prove their claims.
Speaking to ANI, Bharadwaj said, "The chemical which was sprayed by the previous Delhi government is being sprayed by the current government... The government is lying that the Yamuna is clean. If Rekha Gupta says that the water in the Yamuna is clean, then I ask Rekha Gupta and Parvesh Verma to come with me and drink a litre of Yamuna water. I will be convinced that the Yamuna is now clean..."
Earlier, Saurabh Bhardwaj accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of hypocrisy on the cleaning methods adopted of the Yamuna river ahead of Chhath Puja, saying that the Delhi BJP had earlier opposed the use of chemicals to clean the river but is now approving the same practice.
Bhardwaj recalled that before Chhath Puja in 2022, the Arvind Kejriwal government had sprayed chemicals to remove foam from the river, ensuring a clean environment for Chhath Puja devotees. However, BJP MP Parvesh Verma had then criticised the move, calling the chemical "poisonous".
"We have completely exposed the way the Delhi Chief Minister has been lying to the people of Delhi. Before Chhath Puja in 2022, when Arvind Kejriwal's government sprayed chemicals to remove foam in the Yamuna, Parvesh Verma came to the Yamuna and said that this chemical would make the Yamuna poisonous," Delhi AAP President said to ANI earlier.
Earlier, Minister Kapil Mishra on Chhath Puja said, "We are preparing for a grand Chhath Puja. Until last year, there was a ban on Chhath Puja in the Yamuna. When we sought information, there was no such court order. The Kejriwal government lied to the people of Purvanchal. This time, a grand Chhath Puja will be organised on the banks of the Yamuna. Arrangements for Chhath Puja are being made at 1,300 ghats. The Chief Minister herself is monitoring it. We are building modern Chhath ghats everywhere."
The Chhath festival begins with Nahay Khay on Saturday, October 25. The second day of Chhath Puja is known as Kharna, which is on October 26. Offering to the setting sun is on October 27, and offering to the Rising Sun is on October 28. (ANI)