The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) exposed the BJP’s false claims of cleaning the Yamuna, challenging Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and her party leaders to drink the polluted river water if it was truly clean. Delhi AAP President Saurabh Bharadwaj and MLA Sanjeev Jha arrived at the CM’s residence with bottles filled from the Yamunawater, only to be stopped by Delhi Police barricades before they could reach the house.
The AAP Delhi State President said Delhi government’s own pollution report, Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) report, confirms the river’s water is unfit for both drinking and bathing, warning that BJP’s lies are dangerously misleading people. “Drinking this water can endanger the lives of children and pregnant women. To secure votes in Bihar, the BJP is deceiving Purvanchali devotees and playing with their lives. FIRs must be filed against BJP leaders for misleading the public,” Saurabh Bharadwaj asserted.
During a media interaction outside CM Rekha Gupta’s residence, senior AAP leader and Delhi State President Bharadwaj said that over the last three days, he has repeatedly urged Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva through social and mainstream media to stop lying to the people of Delhi. “If the BJP truly believes that the Yamuna’s water is fit for consumption, then Rekha Gupta and Virendra Sachdeva should drink it themselves first,” Saurabh Bharadwaj said. “Their social media theatrics — pretending to fill glasses but never actually drinking — only expose their hypocrisy.”
The AAP Delhi Unit Chief said that AAP leaders carried Yamuna water to Rekha Gupta’s residence to have her drink it before the media and prove her claims of a clean river. “I tagged both Rekha Gupta and Virendra Sachdeva on social media, but neither responded. So we took the water to her house ourselves. The police stopped us, saying the CM wasn’t available. We told them to give us a time — evening or the next morning — and we would return with fresh water. If any BJP minister wants to drink straight from the river, we’ll take them to Wazirabad and fill their glass there. But we will no longer tolerate their drama,” he declared.
Calling BJP’s lies dangerous and life-threatening, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “This deceit can cost the lives of children, parents, and pregnant women. It’s nothing short of a conspiracy to mislead and harm people. Yet the police will not register any case because their job is to protect BJP leaders.” He added, “We have come here to prove that BJP leaders are liars, fraudsters, and deceivers. Even their own DPCC report admits that Yamuna’s water is polluted.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj revealed that BJP diverted water from the Eastern Canal in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana’s Hathnikund into the Yamuna to falsely show that the river had been cleaned. “Despite this manipulation, Yamuna remains just as filthy. For five consecutive years, BJP stopped water flow during Chhath Puja to prevent Purvanchali devotees from performing rituals. Now, ahead of the Bihar elections, the same party is trying to claim credit by diverting canal water — but Yamuna remains dirty. I appeal to the people not to fall for BJP’s lies. Do not drink or use Yamuna water; it’s hazardous to health,” he warned.
Earlier in a press conference at the AAP headquarters with MLA Sanjeev Jha and other party leaders, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “We filled a bottle with Yamuna water near Wazirabad in front of cameras. If any BJP leader doubts this, we are ready to repeat the process any day with them. This bottle contains black sludge and sewage from Najafgarh drain. Forget drinking — this water isn’t even suitable for bathing.” He cited the October 23 DPCC report, which confirmed that Yamuna samples from multiple locations contained faecal matter and were not fit for human contact.
Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “CM Rekha Gupta lies daily without any regard for the dignity of her office. BJP leaders, including the Chief Minister, are deceiving devotees through fake ‘achman’ (ritual sipping) demonstrations. In their videos, they merely pour the water down their hands without a single drop touching their lips. Because of this deceit, lakhs of poor Purvanchali women and children will stand for 45 minutes to 1.5 hours in this toxic water during Chhath to offer prayers to the Sun God. The water enters their mouths and noses, putting their lives at serious risk. If anyone believes BJP’s false assurances and actually drinks this water — especially children or pregnant women — it could prove fatal.”
He added, “Poor families cannot afford treatment at BJP-run Delhi hospitals, where even free medicines are no longer available. I appeal to the public — if you wish to vote for BJP, that’s your right, but please do not perform achman with this poisonous water. I urge the media to show the truth: BJP leaders are liars, fraudsters, and habitual deceivers. They have done nothing in the past nine months to clean Yamuna.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj also referred to Delhi’s Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa’s recent claim, where he posted a photo of India Gate after rainfall, claiming credit for reduced pollution. “But when AAP shared photos showing Yamuna’s filth, the same BJP minister said pollution cannot be cleaned in nine months,” Bharadwaj noted. “We never asked them to post pictures of India Gate or clean Yamuna in nine months. Former CM Arvind Kejriwal had told the truth before the elections — that he couldn’t clean Yamuna because BJP’s LG and Finance Department blocked the Jal Board’s funds, and the Centre’s DDA denied land for sewage plants. The Yamuna Action Plan, which was to be completed by June 2024, got pushed to 2026 due to BJP’s obstruction. That plan was initiated by AAP’s government, but BJP is now lying for electoral gain in Bihar.”
Sharing the DPCC report on X, Saurabh Bharadwaj wrote: “As per the report dated 23.10.2025 of Delhi Govt’s DPCC, the water in Yamuna is NOT even suitable for bathing. This report shows Yamuna water is very polluter and contains human waste (potty) in alarming quantity. Imagine, BJP leaders for their false propaganda & Bihar elections want poor purvanchali kids to even drink this water. Poor kids can fall very sick, they can even die. This is inspite of the fact that Haryana Govt has diverted all the water of Eastern Yamuna canal into Yamuna for 7 days.
So after 7 days, Pollution will turn worse and BJP will again stand exposed.”
Supporting Saurabh Bharadwaj’s statements, senior AAP leader and MLA Sanjeev Jha said that the October 23 DPCC report — issued by BJP’s own government — confirms that Yamuna’s water is extremely polluted, containing faecal matter hundreds to thousands of times above safe limits. “This water is neither drinkable nor suitable for bathing. Contact with it can cause severe skin diseases. BJP leaders are deceiving people by pretending to perform achman with this water. If anyone believes them and drinks it, it’s equivalent to playing with their lives,” he said.
Sanjeev Jha added, “The DPCC report covers locations like Wazirabad, ITO, Kalindi Kunj, Laxmi Nagar, and Okhla — all showing dangerously high contamination levels. We brought both this bottle and the report to Rekha Gupta to ask her to drink it in public if she truly believes the water is pure. If she does, Purvanchali brothers and sisters performing Chhath will have confidence that Yamuna is clean. Otherwise, misleading them into believing this is criminal negligence.”
Appealing directly to devotees, Sanjeev Jha said, “We urge all Purvanchali brothers and sisters not to perform achman with this water. Standing in it for too long can cause skin and other health problems. BJP’s intentions are as filthy as this water. They are exploiting innocent people for political gain ahead of the Bihar elections. Please stay cautious, avoid prolonged exposure, and do not perform achman at ghats like Wazirabad, Vasudev Ghat, ITO, Prabal Nagar, Kalindi Kunj, and Okhla — the water there is not fit for any ritual use.”
