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New Delhi: The Yamuna river in Delhi is once again in the spotlight as winter approaches and preparations for Chhath Puja gather pace. A fresh political
exchange has started after BJP MP Manoj Tiwari took a dip in the river and praised the cleanliness work carried out by the Delhi government. On Friday, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju joined the conversation with a playful suggestion for a swimming competition between himself and Tiwari in the Yamuna. Sharing a video of Tiwari taking a dip on X, Rijiju wrote, “Manoj ji, don't you think that in Yamuna ji's much cleaner water, there could be a swimming competition between the two of us?”
Tiwari had visited Sonia Vihar in Delhi on Thursday, ahead of Chhath Puja, and entered the Yamuna to take a dip. The North East Delhi MP praised the work being carried out to clean the river under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta's leadership.
He said he was “overjoyed” that the improvement in cleanliness had made it possible for him to enter the river. Tiwari also credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Delhi government, saying their aim was to provide residents with a clean Yamuna.
“How can we not appreciate the work that has been done here? I will tell Arvind Kejriwal that this is all a sign of cleanliness. There might be crocodiles in the water here, but crocodiles come in clean water,” he said.
Tiwari added that his visit was meant to send a message about the river's condition and was not intended to shame AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal.
AAP Questions BJP's Claims On Yamuna Cleanliness
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), however, challenged Tiwari's claims and accused the BJP of creating a false impression about the condition of the river.
AAP workers visited the site and claimed that the water was black and heavily polluted. They alleged that Tiwari had taken a dip during a cleaning drive at the Yamuna ghat. The party also called his claim of drinking the river water “completely false”.
Targeting Tiwari, AAP accused the BJP MP of “staging theatrics” ahead of Chhath Puja. The party also issued an open challenge, asking him to take a dip at the point where drain water enters the Yamuna, drink the water and livestream the exercise on his social media accounts.
"MP @ManojTiwariMP & water minister Parvesh Verma are invited to Yamuna River at Kalindi Kunj to take a dip and drink this water, " said AAP leader leader Saurav Bhardwaj in an X post.
"Manoj Tiwari is doing what BJP can do best - playing Fraud with people. 26 km stretch of Yamuna from Palla to Wazirabad via bakhtawarpur, Burari, Jagatpur, Sonia vihar, has always be cleaner. Yamuna gets majorly polluted at Signature bridge when Najafgarh drain enters Yamuna, " Bhardwaj said.
With Chhath Puja approaching, the condition of the Yamuna has once again become a political flashpoint in the national capital, with the BJP highlighting its clean-up efforts and AAP questioning the claims.
