New Delhi, Oct 29 (IANS) BJP MP Manoj Tiwari’s dip into the Yamuna River on Thursday escalated into a political row as the AAP’s Saurabh Bhardwaj dubbed the move an eyewash and dared the parliamentarian to drink water at Kalindi Kunj, the river stretch that remains infamously polluted throughout the year.

The political tussle comes days ahead of Chhath Puja, even as the Rekha Gupta-led BJP government carries out a large-scale cleanliness drive to clean the river, a pledge that was a key plank of the BJP in the run-up to Assembly elections.

Saurabh Bhardwaj accused the BJP of misleading the public by engaging in theatrics, rather than undertaking a dedicated initiative to clean the river.

He also hurled a direct challenge to the BJP MP as well as Delhi minister Parvesh Singh Verma to drink water from the Yamuna to prove their claims of a "cleaned Yamuna".

He claimed that the BJP leaders had backed down when presented with a similar challenge last year, and that the same would happen this time as well.

Earlier in the day, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari took a dip in the Yamuna, claiming that the pollution load of the river had reduced by half in the past year. He also asserted that people can now celebrate Chhath puja in the Yamuna once again.

Tiwari said he had tasted Yamuna water at Sonia Vihar and praised the city government for its efforts to clean the river.

"AAP used to blame Haryana for polluting the river. But since the BJP came to power, it has cleaned half of the river in one-and-a-half years," Tiwari stated.

Responding to this, Saurabh Bhardwaj dubbed them as “frauds” and said on X, “These BJP frauds know nothing about Delhi. It is well known that 26 km stretch of Yamuna River from Palla to Wazirabad has always been comparatively clean. It was cleaner during AAP Govt even as per DPCC reports.”

Throwing a challenge, Bharadwaj said, "I invite Manoj Tiwari and Water Minister Parvesh Verma to drink water at Kalindi Kunj ghat (near Okhla barrage). Last year also they ran away from the challenge."

He alleged that by concealing the true state of the river, BJP leaders are trying to present a false image of a clean Yamuna to the public.

Bharadwaj noted that the approximately 26-kilometre stretch of the Yamuna from Palla to Wazirabad has historically remained relatively clean and claimed that the water quality in this stretch was even better during the tenure of the Aam Aadmi Party government.

Citing a report from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), he remarked that BJP leaders remain unaware of the sources of pollution in the Yamuna or the actual condition of the river. He pointed out that the first major drain into the Yamuna is when it enters Delhi near the Signature Bridge, close to Wazirabad.

The AAP leader further said that the BJP leaders should rather provide the public with accurate information regarding the actual state of the Yamuna and refrain from such useless point-scoring to gain political advantage, ahead of the Chhath festival.

--IANS

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