A fierce dispute between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has erupted over the construction of a Chhath ghat at Satpula Ground in Chirag Delhi, with accusations flying between the two rival parties as Delhi prepares for the popular Purvanchali festival.
Delhi Chief Minister Atishi criticised the BJP, accusing it of instructing the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to obstruct the Chhath ghat construction.
Posting on X, Atishi denounced the alleged interference by BJP-led DDA, terming it "petty politics" and stating such behaviour would not be tolerated.
The conflict centres on a DDA park in Chirag Delhi, where local AAP leaders claim the central government agency is preventing them from setting up the ghat for Chhath Puja, a significant festival celebrated by the Purvanchali community.
Greater Kailash MLA and Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj led a sit-in protest at the location, alleging that the BJP-controlled DDA was “coerced” into stalling the arrangements and that the Delhi Police had sealed an eight-year-old Chhath Puja site in Chirag Delhi.
In a video shared on X, a man is seen stating that the preparations were stopped despite permission being granted by the deputy commissioner. Bharadwaj also alleged that the site was locked to prevent Purvanchali residents from participating in the celebrations.
Meanwhile, a DDA official maintained that a 6,000-sq.mtr area near Satpula lake had already been allotted for Chhath Puja, implying that sufficient arrangements were already in place.
The BJP, however, countered the AAP's claims, contending that it was, in fact, Bharadwaj and his supporters who disrupted the ghat’s establishment. BJP leader Shikha Rai accused AAP workers of obstructing residents who arrived at the park to prepare the site for the Chhath festivities.
“The AAP workers issued threats and pressured the residents and BJP workers to leave,” Rai claimed, asserting that the incident exposed the “anti-Hindu face” of AAP, led by Arvind Kejriwal.
Rai, who is part of the Chhath committee, stated that the festival had been celebrated at the park for the past 16 years and lamented that in recent years, AAP workers allegedly claimed the 6,000-sq.mtr area just before the festival, imposing “arbitrary conditions” on the arrangements.
The Purvanchalis—migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand—constitute an influential electoral segment in Delhi, with an estimated 30-40 per cent of the national capital’s 1.5 crore voters.
Political analysts note that the ongoing sparring over Chhath ghat preparations aligns with heightened political manoeuvring ahead of the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections, where both parties have been locked in a bitter war of words on multiple issues, including air quality and festival preparations.
Chhath, which is observed six days after Diwali, is a significant festival where women perform rituals in water to honour the Sun god, offering “arghya” with cow milk and Gangajal while fasting.
The festival, traditionally celebrated with enthusiasm by the Purvanchali community, has thus become a focal point of political contention between AAP and the BJP.
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