The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing huge backlash over a conspiracy to halt Chhath Puja at Satpula Park, ahead of Delhi’s Chhath Puja celebrations. With senior AAP leader and Cabinet Minister in Delhi Government Saurabh Bharadwaj calling out the BJP for orchestrating a campaign to prevent the festival at Satpula Park.
Saurabh Bharadwaj challenges BJP leader Bansuri Swaraj to publicly confirm that their Puja hasn’t occurred at Satpula Park in eight years, a claim he says defies reality. “Let BJP take all the credit,” he says, “but let our festival go on.”
Senior AAP leader and Delhi Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj stated that there’s massive outrage across newspapers, TV, and social media over the situation at Satpula Ground in Chirag Delhi. This is where our Purvanchalis from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh traditionally celebrate Chhath Puja with all rituals, but this year, unlike in the past, they have been stopped by BJP controlled DDA.
The senior AAP leader shared, “The Delhi Government, which usually creates about a thousand ghats (banks) each year for Chhath Puja, included this ghat in the official list many years, said Vishwajeet, who hails from Nalanda in Bihar, leads the Chhath Puja Committee at Satpula Ground and has been organizing Chhath Puja here for the past eight years.”
“If you go with a camera and ask around, every Purvanchali in the vicinity will confirm that Vishwajeet and his committee have consistently been making arrangements for Chhath Puja at this ground. But now, due to certain obstacles created by known BJP members, the Purvanchalis have been effectively barred from their Chhath ghat,” said Saurabh Bharadwaj.
The Delhi Minister mentioned that the Delhi government has organized nearly 1,000 Chhath Ghats across the city, as it does every year, and Satpula Park is also included in the list.
Displaying permission documents, Saurabh Bharadwaj explained that Vishwajeet Jha’s committee has once again received permission from the South DM to set up a ghat here for Chhath Puja. However, this year, the BJP, in an anti-Purvanchali conspiracy, is plotting to obstruct the celebration of Chhath Puja at Satpula Park.
Revealing a deeper aspect of this conspiracy, the senior AAP leader stated that he had received information from people that BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj was behind the attempt to stop their Chhath Puja at Satpula Park. He initially dismissed the notion, thinking that she had only recently entered politics, was the daughter of the late Sushma Swaraj, and had based her entire campaign on her mother’s legacy, frequently invoking her name in speeches.
“Given the high regard Sushma Swaraj held in Indian politics, I thought her daughter would not engage in such unsavory politics. But with the conspiracy now fully exposed, and seeing Bansuri Swaraj’s active involvement in this controversy, such dirty politics does not behoove Sushma Swaraj’s daughter,” he asserted.
Presenting a copy of a photo tweeted by Bansuri Swaraj, Saurabh Bharadwaj pointed out that the individuals in the photo are actively working to stop the Chhath Puja at Satpula Park and are all BJP workers. Naming some of them, he said he knows these people personally, and none of them is a Purvanchalis but workers of BJP, deliberately spreading lies among the public to halt the Chhath Puja that has been held at Satpula Park for years.
The senior AAP leader asserted that none of them belong to the Purvanchali community, yet they’re interfering into Purvanchalis’ affairs to celebrate their own festival. Meanwhile, Basuri Swaraj is talking about who is truly “Sanatani” (a true follower of Hindu traditions) and who isn’t. It’s not about passing out certificates of religiosity.
Calling out BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj, Saurabh Bharadwaj affirmed, “Let me make a simple request to Basuri Swaraj: hold your hand over the Srimad Bhagavad Gita and swear that Vishwajeet and his committee have not been conducting Chhath Puja at Satpula Ground for years. If she takes that oath and denies it, I’ll drop this matter. It’s only because of their expertise in spreading misinformation that some people thought we were stirring up trouble. But once I tagged Basuri Swaraj in a tweet and asked her to swear on the Bhagavad Gita, the BJP leaders have started reaching out privately, acknowledging that she’s lying.”
“This is not about exposing anyone—it does us no good to reveal these lies. All we’re asking is to allow our Purvanchali brothers and sisters to celebrate Chhath Puja peacefully without being drawn into political conspiracies,” he added.
Saurabh Bharadwaj while requesting the BJP and its MP Bansuri Swaraj said that if you are afraid that Saurabh Bharadwaj will reach the Chhath Puja program and take the credit for all the arrangements, then I promise you in front of the media that I and our Municipal Councilor and any of our workers will not go to that Chhath Ghat to take the credit. Just let these people celebrate Chhath Puja as they have for years. It’s unfair to create barriers for people who’ve come here to make an honest living and just want to observe their traditions.”
Meanwhile, Chhath Ghat Committee Member Vishwajeet Jga, who leads the Chhath Puja Committee at Satpula Ground, stated that for the past eight years, all Purvanchalis have been coming together to perform Chhath Puja at this particular ghat. We’ve been doing this with full reverence, as we know how sacred and pure this festival is. Earlier, we used to go to our villages for Chhath Puja, but everyone knows how challenging it is to get there. Train tickets are unavailable; they get booked on the very day bookings open, three to four months in advance, and even then, most end up on the waiting list.
Vishwajeet shared, “Twice, when we tried to go there, we were turned away. The DDA guards told us there was no permission to perform the puja. Finally, on the last day, with the festival right around the corner and our fasts set to begin the next day, we tried to go again. But once more, we were refused. A few people even came with the police, telling us we couldn’t conduct our puja there. We sat for a long time, hoping the situation would change, but eventually, they forced us to leave the area.”
“Our simple request is this: let us perform our puja. We don’t need any special permission. In previous years, the District Magistrate himself would come, make sure the ghat was set up, and we’d perform the puja without any issues. This time, however, we received no notice or information, just a flat denial that we cannot set up a Chhath ghat here,” he mentioned.
One of elderly woman from the Purvanchal community who was hit by the Delhi Police while crying, shared, “For the past eight years, we have been celebrating Chhath Puja here in Delhi with our children and families. We come together because we can’t get tickets to travel back to our villages. There is no proper arrangement for us to travel, so we stay in Delhi and celebrate here. Yesterday, when we went to the ghat, we tried to enter, but the police were there, and they kept pushing us around. Both the male and female police officers grabbed and shoved us forcefully. Now, where are we supposed to go?”
“With just two days left until Chhath Puja, we don’t know where we can perform our rituals. The BJP people tell us they will allow us to perform our puja, but where? They have taken over the ghat area, putting up swings and fairground rides where we should be preparing for Chhath Puja. So now, where are we supposed to go? She asked.
Another Purvanchali lady mentioned, “We aren’t asking to build houses there; it’s just for the two days of our festival, which is observed with so much devotion. Many of us borrow money to arrange for the puja items. Even when we’re sick, we still manage to fast and observe the rituals. But the BJP people aren’t letting us celebrate; they are busy with their arrangements, saying that there’s no space for us there. They’re dragging us out. Where should we go now, with only two days remaining until Chhath?”
One of the elders spoke up, urging others to raise their voices, to find a way to continue Chhath Puja. Another person added that, in the past eight years, they’ve never faced such issues. This is the first time we are being denied access. The police and other authorities keep turning us away. All we need is a proper ghat, not the swings or fairground that they have set up. Chhath Puja is a major festival for people from Bihar, and even the government recognizes its importance by declaring holidays. We’re just ordinary people and can’t afford expensive tickets to travel by train or plane. You know how hard it is to get train tickets. We have young children with us, and we can’t take them to places like the Yamuna.
Another person explained that when they went to the ghat, they were pushed and hit with sticks by the police. The language used by the Delhi police was offensive and unbearable, and the female officers shoved us aggressively. It’s difficult to describe the level of abuse we experienced from the Delhi police.
