New Delhi: Chhath Puja painted the city in hues of devotion on Tuesday, but it also triggered a war of words between BJP and AAP. In the morning, chief minister Rekha Gupta made offerings to the rising sun at Haathi Ghat on the Yamuna near ITO and performed rituals alongside thousands of devotees, praising the festival as a reflection of “faith, discipline and unity”. Lauding Delhi govt for ensuring clean and well-lit ghats, she credited the teamwork between citizens and officials. “Delhi today stands at the confluence of culture and cleanliness,” she said, expressing gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his blessings and the people of Delhi for their faith and cooperation.Later in the day, Gupta joined a post-festival cleanliness drive at Vasudev Ghat near Kashmere Gate, sweeping the premises and reiterating her govt’s resolve to maintain cleanliness after every major festival.Meanwhile, opposition AAP accused BJP of creating a “fake Yamuna” for PM Modi’s planned Chhath Puja. AAP Delhi convener Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that elaborate arrangements were made to create an artificial stretch of clean water for PM’s event. “BJP tried to deceive the nation by creating a fake Yamuna to project that the river was cleaned. But when the truth came out on social media, the programme had to be cancelled. This is a lesson that the power of truth and the people is greater than that of govts.”Hitting back, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said, “Bharadwaj’s frustration over defeat and political resentment have grown so much that he is posting meaningless things on social media just to stay in the news.” He added, “It is surprising that despite being a minister himself and his party being in power for 10 years, Bharadwaj lacks even the basic administrative understanding that the programmes of PM or other chief ministers are not decided based on newspaper or TV announcements.”
