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Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah has taken a dig at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal over the "unfulfilled promise" of cleaning up the Delhi stretch of River Yamuna to make it look like Britain's River Thames.
With voting in the Delhi assembly election less than two weeks away, Mr Shah aimed for one of the weakest points of the national capital - pollution, both air and water.
"He [Mr Kejriwal] promised he would purify River Yamuna in seven years and modify it just like London's River Thames," Mr Shah said at a rally.
"He even said he would take a dip in the Yamuna in front of Delhiites. Arvind Kejriwal, the people of Delhi are waiting for your world-famous dip in the Yamuna. If not in Yamuna, he can go to the Mahakumbh and take a dip over there to get rid of his sins," Mr Shah said.
Pressing on his attack, Mr Shah said the BJP would clean River Yamuna in three years if it comes to power in the national capital.
Mr Shah alleged the AAP chief also broke his promise of not taking a government bungalow, and accused him of spending Rs 51 crore to build a 50,000 square-foot "Sheesh Mahal".
"... Kejriwal runs a government in Delhi that makes promises, doesn't fulfil them, and then presents false faces to the public. In my political life, I have never seen anyone who lies so clearly," Mr Shah said.
#WATCH | #DelhiElections2025 | Union Home Minister Amit Shah says, "He promised he would purify the Yamuna River in 7 years and modify it just like London's Thames River... He even said he would take a dip in the Yamuna in front of Delhiites. Arvind Kejriwal, the people of Delhi... pic.twitter.com/44rsVKJy5m
— ANI (@ANI) January 25, 2025
Parvesh Verma, BJP candidate from New Delhi constituency, joined the "dirty Yamuna" chorus by putting a poster of Mr Kejriwal over the river.
#WATCH | BJP candidate from the New Delhi assembly constituency, Parvesh Verma reaches Yamuna Ghat; takes a jibe at AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal over the issue of cleaning Yamuna River. pic.twitter.com/uAVHPwOpDx
— ANI (@ANI) January 25, 2025
Many projects to clean the river were running behind schedule, a Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) report said in October 2023.
The report submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) drew attention to delays in projects undertaken by the Delhi Jal Board and the Delhi Development Authority to reduce pollution in the river.
This is not the first time any BJP leader has dared Mr Kejriwal to take a dip in the polluted stretch of the river. Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister challenged the AAP chief to take a dip, and accused the former Delhi chief minister for "turning the holy Yamuna into a dirty drain."