Watch Purvanchali poll, AAP vs BJP over Chhath Puja Ghat in Delhi

The festive season in Delhi appears to be coming to a contentious end due to a clash between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the opposition BJP over bathing ghats during the upcoming Chhath puja. The parties accused each other of being “anti-Purvanchali” and AAP said the police were deliberately closing ghats and pushing aside poor people waiting for Chhath celebrations.

The four-day Chhath puja, which began today, is a celebration of the Sun. It is the largest festival of Bihar and Jharkhand and is celebrated with enthusiasm by the Bihari migrant community across the country. This is also observed in parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh.

In the national capital, several ghats on the Yamuna and other water bodies are reserved for devotees to take bath and make offerings to both the rising and setting sun. This time the issue is at the Satpula ghat in south Delhi, which has been the traditional site of Chhath puja.

There was tension between BJP and AAP supporters and the police came to restore order.

“The police have resorted to full-scale hooliganism,” senior AAP leader and Delhi minister Saurabh Bhardwaj told reporters today.

“The poor, especially Dalits, celebrate Chhath and the police barricade the ghat so that they cannot celebrate. This is being done on the instructions of Bansuri Swaraj of the BJP,” he added.

Meanwhile, Shikha Rai of the BJP said that the DDA group, which has permission to celebrate Chhath, was not given access to the ghat.

Local MPs and MLAs have been here since yesterday, disrupting construction work. Workers are being beaten… I don’t understand – if you are anti-Hindu, anti-Purvanchali, why not just say so,” she said.

Setting up tents and portable changing rooms and organizing space on the ghats are among the preparations for the celebrations.

The BJP has said that they have sought permission from the DDA, while the AAP claims that they have permission from the sub-divisional magistrate.

The clash comes ahead of the Delhi elections scheduled for February next year and the support of the Purvanchali community will be crucial for both sides.

Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of former union minister late Sushma Swaraj and a BJP MP from the national capital, is expected to visit the site this evening.