The political row over Delhi’s Yamuna river escalated sharply on Friday as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj arrived at Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s residence holding a transparent bottle filled with filthy, greyish water drawn directly from the river. In a symbolic protest, Bharadwaj challenged the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to prove its claims of having cleaned the Yamuna by daring the Chief Minister to take a sip from the bottle.
The dramatic protest followed a viral video released a day earlier showing Delhi BJP spokesperson Anil Gupta performing aachman — a ritual act of sipping holy water — with water from the Yamuna. Gupta had declared that the river was now “fit for religious use” following extensive cleaning drives carried out by the BJP-led Delhi government. Bharadwaj, however, dismissed this claim as a “dangerous lie” intended to mislead the public ahead of the Chhath Puja festival.
Standing outside the Chief Minister’s residence, Bharadwaj addressed reporters, saying, “This is the water of the Yamuna flowing through Delhi. If Rekha Gupta ji believes it is clean, let her drink it in front of the people. We challenge the BJP to stop fooling citizens with fake claims.” The AAP leader accused the government of endangering public health, warning that thousands of devotees performing rituals during Chhath Puja might fall severely ill if they come into contact with contaminated water.
Bharadwaj cited a recent Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) report dated October 23, 2025, which found that the Yamuna’s water quality remained extremely poor and “not even suitable for bathing.” The report indicated high levels of organic pollution and faecal contamination, contradicting the BJP’s assertions of a clean river. “The DPCC’s own findings show that the Yamuna is heavily polluted with human waste and chemical residues,” Bharadwaj wrote on X, accusing the BJP of spreading falsehoods.
He further alleged that BJP governments in Delhi and Haryana had conspired to “artificially improve” the river’s appearance before the festival. “To create an illusion of cleanliness, the Haryana government diverted water from Uttar Pradesh’s Eastern Canal into the Yamuna for a few days. This manipulation is political drama, not environmental work,” he said.
In response, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva rejected AAP’s accusations, asserting that Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s administration had achieved “visible progress” in rejuvenating the Yamuna. He cited recent test readings indicating that the dissolved oxygen (DO) level in the river was between 4.5 and 5.5 mg/L and that the pH level was around 7.5 — parameters considered near normal. “The river’s water no longer emits a foul odour. This improvement is the result of continuous efforts by the Rekha Gupta government,” Sachdeva said.
The controversy has become politically charged with Chhath Puja — a festival revered by Delhi’s Purvanchali community — set to begin on October 25. The condition of the Yamuna has now evolved into both a religious issue and an election flashpoint, particularly with the Bihar Assembly polls scheduled for early November.
Former AAP MLA Vinay Mishra accused the BJP of using the festival for political mileage. “For years, BJP leaders insulted the Purvanchali community, demolished Chhath ghats, and discouraged the celebration. Now, with elections approaching, they are pretending to care,” Mishra alleged.
Countering these statements, BJP’s Virendra Sachdeva claimed that it was the AAP which had “looted public money in the name of Yamuna cleaning and Chhathi Maiya,” and that corruption during its tenure was the reason people voted the party out.
Earlier this week, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had announced the creation of 17 new model Chhath ghats along the Yamuna and the withdrawal of pending cases filed against devotees for performing rituals on the riverbanks.
As preparations for Chhath Puja — observed from October 25 to 28 — gather pace, the debate over the Yamuna’s true condition has deepened. What began as a public health concern has now turned into a major political confrontation, blending environmental accountability with electoral strategy and religious symbolism in the capital’s charged atmosphere.
