The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hold a protest outside Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Tuesday to oppose his government’s ban on Chhath Mahaparva.
Naveen Kumar, Delhi BJP’s media in-charge, said Dinesh Pratap Singh and Kaushal Mishra will lead the party’s supporters, who will gather near Chandgiram Akhara and march towards Kejriwal’s house.
The Delhi government has banned community celebrations of Chhath Puja at public places like river banks, temples, ghats amid a surge in Covid-19 cases.
The number of cases started nearing the 8000-mark daily last week.
Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta said the government should not hurt the religious sentiments of Poorvanchalis and permission should be given to organise Chhath Mahaparva with specific guidelines or alternative arrangements should be made.
“There is anger among Poorvanchalis living in Delhi due to the ban on Chhath Mahaparva… Chhath festival is the biggest festival for the Poorvanchalis and Chhath Vrati [those who fast] cannot leave the puja under any circumstances.”
He said BJP-led municipal corporations and councillors have got Chhath Ghats cleaned, but it is the responsibility of the Delhi government to arrange electricity and water.
Jai Prakash, mayor, North Delhi Municipal Corporation, condemned the ban on Chhath Puja and demanded it be lifted. “We carried out sanitation activities at ghats much before the ban was announced. We can create more ghats to keep the crowd sparse. The government should issue specific guidelines to conduct the puja instead of banning it,” Prakash said.
Nirmal Jain, mayor, East Delhi Municipal Corporation, said people will certainly celebrate Chhath if not at public ghats, then in their colonies and societies which would again lead to chaos. “The government should allow bigger ghats to be opened for the puja. The crowd can be regulated. We are all prepared but the government should come up with some guidelines.”
