A political blame game over Chhath Puja preparations in Delhi began on Monday with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accusing the BJP of spreading hate towards Purvanchalis, while the BJP said the AAP government was not serious about the festival.
An important festival for those from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, Chhath Puja will be celebrated on Tuesday.
In the run-up to the festival, the AAP alleged that those associated with the BJP had attacked Purvanchalis.
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Addressing a press conference, AAP spokesperson and South Delhi Lok Sabha incharge for the party Raghav Chadha said “BJP goons” had assaulted BJP’s own Purvanchal wing office-bearer and municipality election candidate Chandan Kumar Choudhary.
“On Sunday night [November 11], the people who were preparing for Chhath Puja at Asthal Mandir in Deoli Assembly constituency, including the BJP Purvanchal wing office-bearer, were attacked by people from the BJP,” said Mr. Chadha.
This was the second such incident, he said, referring to an incident in October where Mr. Choudhary had alleged that he and his supporters were attacked by BJP South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri’s supporters at the Run for Unity event.
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“If the BJP is attacking its own Purvanchali leader, what will they do to ordinary Purvanchalis in Delhi. The puja samiti was being asked to invite the South Delhi MP for Chhath Puja and when they declined, they were attacked,” said Mr. Chadha.
He added that the BJP had been “given the love” of people in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, referring to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, but now was attacking Purvanchalis. Mr. Chadha said that Delhi Police had failed to file an FIR in the incident.
When asked for comment, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Vijayanta Arya said, “We have received the complaint and it is being enquired into”.
Meanwhile, the Delhi BJP accused the AAP government of failing to prepare for Chhath Puja adequately. In a statement, Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said the government’s claim that it had set up 1,000 Chhath ghats was not true. He said “not a single permanent Chhath ghat” had been set up since the AAP came to power in 2015. “No concrete arrangements have been made at the ghats and for cleaning the water of the Yamuna. The AAP government seems to be indifferent towards the preparation and cleaning of Chhath ghats,” he said.
He said lakhs of devotees who worship the Sun while standing in water will be forced to stand in “dirty water and filth”.
Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said in a statement that the arrangements made by the Arvind Kejriwal government were “insufficient”.
He added that the government was politicising the festival . The Chhath Puja samitis had been asking the government to set up permanent ghats along the Western Yamuna Canal for the past three years, but to no avail, Mr. Gupta said.
The Delhi government, on its part, has said it has set up 1,000 ghats for devotees, and declared Tuesday a holiday for the festival.