Why politics heats up ahead of Chhath Puja in Delhi

Toxic foam formation at Yamuna river in 2019 (Image: PTI)

Leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been involved in a political war of words over Chhath Puja celebrations in the national capital for many days now.

The tussle intensified on November 8 when BJP member of parliament (MP)  Parvesh Verma defied a ban on celebrating the festival on the banks of the Yamuna  after challenging Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to stop him. 

"The CM (Arvind Kejriwal) was voted to power by people from Purvanchal and now he is refusing to allow them. We will make ghat here and celebrate on November 1o,'' Verma, the MP from West Delhi, told news agency ANI.

Delhi: BJP MP Parvesh Verma celebrates #ChhathPuja at ITO Yamuna Ghat. DDMA has allowed the puja only on designated sites&not on Yamuna ghats

"CM was voted to power by people from Purvanchal & now he's refusing to allow them.We'll make ghat here & celebrate on 10th Nov," he says pic.twitter.com/bW3KjbIIHh

— ANI (@ANI) November 8, 2021

Chhath, celebrated after Diwali, involves the offering of Arghya by fasting women to the Sun god, standing in knee-deep water. It involves elaborate rituals over three days, including a holy bath, fasting, and offering of water to the rising and setting sun.

READ: Video: Not beach waves or bubble bath. People take dip in Yamuna's toxic foam in Delhi

AAP leaders accused the BJP of stopping them from preparing a Chhath ghat for the rituals. AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha, who staged a protest in the Dwarka neighbourhood , accompanied by fellow legislator Vinay Mishra. Jha alleged that the BJP was trying to obstruct the Puja.

“If the BJP leaders indulge in dirty politics over Chhath, people from Purvanchal know how to respond," Jha said in a tweet on November 7.

छठी मैया की जय, भाजपाइयों अगर अगर छठी मैया के नाम पे गंदी राजनीति करोगे तो पूर्वांचल वासी इसका मुहतोड़ जबाब देना जानते है। https://t.co/MSc0sw7Kl4

— Sanjeev Jha (@Sanjeev_aap) November 7, 2021

South Delhi Municipal Corporation mayor Mukesh Suryan alleged that AAP MLAs were trying to encroach on municipal land and stop Chhath ghats and temples from being prepared, according to reports.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had in its September 30 order prohibited Chhath Puja celebrations on the banks of the Yamuna this year because of COVID-19.

The decision triggered a political row with the BJP protesting against the prohibition. Party leader and Northeast Delhi member of parliament Manoj Tiwari, another Purvanchali face, staged a march to put pressure on the Delhi government to lift the ban.

Following the protests, Chief Minister Kejriwal wrote to Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal, the DDMA chairperson, to allow Chhath Puja in Delhi. The DDMA last week allowed Chhath Puja celebrations in Delhi at designated sites excluding the Yamuna banks.

The Delhi government has also declared a public holiday on November 10, the main day of the Chhath festival.

Purvanchalis: a strong vote bank 

Chhath Puja — dedicated to the Sun god and his wife — has, over the last two decades, developed into one of the biggest festivals in Delhi, manifesting the growing aspirations of the largest migrant group in the city, the Purvanchalis, who make for  a sizeable voter base.

The Purvanchalis, known to have supported the Congress, shifted to the AAP in the 2015 assembly elections when 13 leaders with a Purvanchal background won. The BJP, which has not won the assembly polls, has been in power in all three municipal corporations of Delhi for three terms now. Municipal elections are due early next year.

Also read: Delhi Election: How Purvanchalis influence polls in the Capital; what AAP, BJP and Cong are doing to woo them

Like in the past, this year too both the BJP and the AAP have been claiming credit for facilitating Chhath celebrations.

The political and cultural influence of the festival in Delhi has increased over the years. In 1998, the then-Congress government in Delhi had set up 78 ghats on the banks of the Yamuna for the celebrations.

This year, Malvia Nagar legislator Somnath Bharti said the AAP government has built more than 1,200 Chhath Ghats and that there were only 72 of them in Delhi before the AAP came into power.

“The AAP, CM Kejriwal along with the people of Delhi are trying their best to celebrate Chhath Mahaparv with great pomp and show in Delhi,” Bharti was quoted as saying in a report in Indian Express.

Also read: Pollution increasing in Delhi due to stubble burning in neighbouring states: Arvind Kejriwal

The BJP-administered South municipal corporation said it had allocated a budget of Rs 41.60 lakh for Chhath celebrations this year. Other civic bodies have also been told to make arrangements at places where prayers would be offered, officials said.

(With PTI inputs)