As the Yamuna River comes to the fore in Delhi assembly election campaigns in 2025, the BJP struck a sharp and creative stroke against former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday. BJP candidate from New Delhi assembly seat, Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma staged a symbolic protest by taking a boat ride on the Yamuna River, accompanied by party members over the issue of cleaning the Yamuna River. He immersed an effigy of former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the murky water of the Yamuna over his unfulfilled promise to clean the river so that people could take a dip in it.
In a video shared on social media, Verma visited Yamuna Ghat holding a life-size cut-out of Kejriwal, which depicted him holding his ears with a slogan that read, “Main fail ho gaya, mujhe vote mat dena, 2025 tak main Yamuna saaf nai kar paya” (“I am a failure; don’t vote for me; I failed to clean the Yamuna by 2025”), referencing Kejriwal’s unfulfilled promise of cleaning the Yamuna in the national capital.
Kejriwal's failure to fulfil his promise of cleaning the Yamuna has become evident, Verma told reporters at the riverbank near ITO. "We can clean all the water of Yamuna Maaiya. Cleaning it is not rocket science. All the silt should be removed by machines, sewerage treatment plants should be built, water treatment plants should be built... Just like our Prime Minister Modi ji built the Sabarmati Riverfront, Yamuna Riverfront can be built in the same way. 11 years is a very long time," said Verma adding Kejriwal will never become the chief minister.
“Despite having 11 long years of power and spending Rs 8,000 crore, the AAP government failed to deliver on its promise of cleaning the Yamuna. This is the biggest betrayal with the people of Delhi," he said. Kejriwal claimed he would clean the river by 2025, but the situation has worsened. "By immersing his effigy, we are exposing his failure to the people of Delhi,” he said.
The AAP supremo in his campaigns for the Delhi Assembly polls admitted that he could not fulfil the promise of cleaning the Yamuna. Now, he has assured people that the river will be cleaned in the next two-three years after AAP comes back to power in Delhi.
Kejriwal's tenure as chief minister has been limited to "hollow promises and false claims," Verma charged and accused the AAP convenor of lacking the intent and capability to clean the Yamuna. "This act of immersing his effigy in the Yamuna is a reminder to the people that it is time to free Delhi from deceitful promises,” Verma said.
This demonstration aims to highlight the "failures" of Kejriwal and AAP government and to send a clear message that the problems of Delhi will remain unresolved as long as the politics of "lies and propaganda" continues, he added. Earlier, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, during a BJP rally in Delhi on Thursday, also targeted AAP and its leadership.