BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh in verbal spat with Delhi Jal Board official over chemical spray in Yamuna

New Delhi, October 28

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The AAP on Friday slammed the BJP leaders for their conduct with Delhi Jal Board (DJB) officials, who in a video were seen being rebuked by them for using some chemical to defoam Yamuna, and alleged that the party was obstructing Chhath preparations.

The Aam Aadmi Party also alleged that the BJP leaders were stopping Chhath Puja preparations.

The accusation came after BJP MP from west Delhi Parvesh Sahib Singh and saffron party leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga visited the Kalindi Kunj Ghat of Yamuna to show the river’s polluted water.

The DJB officials were spraying defoamer chemical in the river ahead of Chhath Puja at the time of saffron party leaders’ visit.

“Delhi government is preparing for Chhath Puja and BJP leaders are stopping work and misbehaving (with officials). BJP wants Purvanchali brothers to suffer and festival to get spoiled,” AAP’s national spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said in a tweet in Hindi.

Bharadwaj, who is also DJB vice-chairman, also posted a purported video of the incident which showed the BJP MP pointing to a set of barrels and yelling at the official for spraying a “poisonous” chemical.

“Aath saal me yaad aya ki ye approved hai. Yahan logon ko maar rahe ho tum, aath saal mein tum isko saaf nahin kar paaye. Isme dubki lagao. (After eight years, you have remembered now that it is approved? You are killing people here. In eight years you could not clean it. Take a dip in the river now),” Singh is heard saying to the official.

In the video, the official is also heard explaining that the chemical is US FDA approved and is also cleared by National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) for the use.

The AAP and the BJP have been targeting each other over the issue of Chhath Puja and pollution in the city river.

The AAP has been accusing BJP of doing politics over the issue, while the saffron party has been cornering it over pollution in Yamuna ahead of Chhath festival.

Chhath Puja, which involves the offering of ‘arghya’ to the Sun god by fasting women in knee-deep water, will be celebrated on October 30 and 31.

The festival is hugely popular among Purvanchalis—people belonging to Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh—living in Delhi.