AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj during a press conference over Yamuna water pollution(L), people perform rituals in the Yamuna river on the last day of the ‘Chhath Puja’.
Credit: PTI Photos
New Delhi: The BJP and AAP’s tug of war over the 'fake' pond in the Yamuna continued on Tuesday with AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bhardwaj claiming that PM Modi has cancelled his visit to the ghat after the expose.
“PM Modi cancels his Chhath Puja & Surya Arghya at “Fake Yamuna” manufactured at Vasudev Ghat. BJP leadership seems quite embarrassed that their CM Rekha Gupta Govt’s fraud on pollution has been exposed widely on Social Media (sic),” Bhardwaj posted.
On Monday, the AAP highlighted how a separate pond has been carved alongside the Yamuna in the Vasudeva Ghat where the prime minister was scheduled to take a ceremonial dip. The pond was filled with filtered water from the Wazirabad treatment plant specifically for the dip.
However, on Tuesday, the prime minister did not take the dip. “Imagine that Just a week before Bihar Elections, the PM could not publicly celebrate Chhath and spread videos & photos. I think it was cancelled at the last moment, so it was too late for PMO to plan another place (sic),” Bhardwaj further said.
The AAP, which has been criticising the BJP government of the pollution issue in Yamuna after several BJP leaders claimed that the Yamuna was now clean, has also accused the BJP of diverting water from the Eastern Canal and using defoaming chemicals early each morning to cover up foam on the river surface.
Bharadwaj has also challenged CM Rekha Gupta to drink Yamuna water to prove its cleanliness.