Politics is intensifying in Delhi regarding Chhath Puja. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Anil Baijal, regarding the permission to organize Chhath Puja in Delhi. In this letter, Kejriwal has demanded that Chhath Puja should be allowed to be celebrated in public.
It is clear that Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has banned the organization of Chhath Puja in Delhi, which the BJP is also continuously opposing. Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia has also written a letter to the Union Health Minister demanding the issuance of guidelines. Arvind Kejriwal has written in a letter to the Lieutenant Governor that now the situation is better in Delhi, in such a situation, keeping in mind the Covid protocol, permission should be given to organize Chhath Puja in Delhi.
He has written in his letter that 'Neighboring states like UP, Haryana, Rajasthan have also allowed to celebrate Chhath Puja. The Chief Minister has requested that a meeting of DDMA be called at the earliest. Also, permission should be given to organize Chhath Puja celebrations.
BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said I would like to thank that Kejriwal understood the sentiments of the people and wrote the letter in the right place. While Deputy CM Manish Sisodia had written a letter to the central government which has already made guidelines. Chhath itself is a festival of social distancing. On the pretext of this, river ghats, water sources get cleaned. Dengue mosquitoes do not breed. No fruit prasad should be touched.
Opposition parties, especially BJP, are giving credit for this step of Kejriwal to themselves.MP Manoj Tiwari accused Delhi CM Kejriwal of appeasing Muslims and hurting the sentiments of Hindus by banning Chhath Puja. In a letter to Kejriwal, Tiwari had also questioned the Aam Aadmi Party government's move to seek guidelines from the Center on celebrating Chhath and said if the government was "serious" it should have done so before banning the festival.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had banned Chhath Puja celebrations in an order last week at public places including river banks, reservoirs, and temples in view of the COVID-19 situation. In fact, MCD elections are about to take place in the capital. There is competition among all the political parties to attract voters. Delhi's 27 assembly seats are such where the people of Purvanchal live in a position to influence the election results, which is why political parties are also placing bets fiercely by connecting Chhath with the voters of Purvanchal.