Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor, V K Saxena, recently told outgoing Chief Minister Atishi that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lost the elections because of a curse from the Yamuna River. This happened on Sunday when Atishi went to the Raj Bhawan to resign. Saxena reminded her that he had previously warned AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal about this curse when he tried to stop a project to clean the Yamuna.
Two years ago, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) set up a committee, led by the Lieutenant Governor, to clean the Yamuna because it was getting more polluted. Kejriwal initially agreed to help, but then the Delhi government went to the Supreme Court to challenge this arrangement. They wanted someone with expertise to lead the project, but the court froze the NGT’s decision—this stay has lasted over two years.
Kejriwal’s supporters argue that he didn’t want a team under the LG’s leadership to take credit for the project, as he had promised to clean the river by 2020 but didn’t do much. This broken promise helped the BJP attack him during the elections. Many voters from Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh, who celebrate Chhath Puja on the riverbanks, were particularly affected by this issue and switched their vote to the BJP.
When people criticized Kejriwal, he blamed the Haryana government for polluting the Yamuna, but this did not go over well with officials from Haryana or BJP leaders. After the election results, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also criticized AAP, saying they disrespected the beliefs of the people and promised to clean the river, ending his speech with “Yamuna Maiya Ki Jai.
Leave a Reply