BJP’s bold campaign: Parvesh Verma takes on Kejriwal over Yamuna cleanup failure | WATCH

Delhi: The Yamuna River has been central to the campaign of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi Assembly elections. The attack is on former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over failure to clean up the Yamuna River. In a dramatic event on Saturday, BJP candidate from the New Delhi constituency, Parvesh Verma, took out a boat ride on the Yamuna with party colleagues as well as a life-size cut-out of Kejriwal along with them.

BJP has been targeting Kejriwal for breaking his promises. A cut-out in the shape of Kejriwal holding his ears in shame and bearing a slogan on it that read, "I am a failure; do not vote for me as I failed to clean the Yamuna River by 2025." BJP leader even dramatized the submersion of the cut-out into the river several times while speaking in the media. Speaking on the issue, Verma said, "Cleaning Yamuna Maaiya is not rocket science. Machines can remove silt, and sewerage treatment plants and water treatment facilities must be built. If Prime Minister Modi Ji can create the Sabarmati Riverfront, why can't we replicate that for Yamuna?

#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

Yamuna pollution becomes a political battleground

As Delhi sets to vote for its new assembly on February 5, the Yamuna River has now become an important election issue against the long-standing pollution. Since long, people in Delhi have been confronted with the health threat from the further degrading of the Yamuna. The opposition parties, BJP and Congress have taken advantage of public anguish and hammered AAP for failing to meet their promise of cleaning it up by 2025.

Political leaders spar over the Yamuna issue

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav defended Arvind Kejriwal, challenging Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to drink water from the Yamuna in Mathura. While Alka Lamba, a Congress leader, alleged that both BJP and AAP had politicized Yamuna. She said, "If given a chance, Congress will clean the Yamuna instead of blaming Purvanchal residents for the river's condition, as Kejriwal did." Delhi Assembly Election Details The 2025 Delhi Assembly polls will be conducted in a single phase on February 5 and the results would be declared on February 8. With 699 contestants vying for 70 seats, it will be a tight battle for control of the national capital.