Delhi BJP welcomes DDMA decision on Chhath Puja, claims this was result of its protests

The Delhi BJP on Wednesday welcomed the DDMAs decision to allow devotees to perform Chhath Puja at designated spots in the city and claimed this was a result of its protests over the earlier ban on celebrating the festival at public places.The Delhi Disaster Management Authority DDMA, which devises Covid management policies for the capital, had banned Chhath Puja celebrations at public places, including at Yamuna riverbanks, water bodies and temples in Delhi, after a meeting on September 30.

The Delhi BJP on Wednesday welcomed the DDMA's decision to allow devotees to perform Chhath Puja at designated spots in the city and claimed this was a result of its protests over the earlier ban on celebrating the festival at public places.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), which devises Covid management policies for the capital, had banned Chhath Puja celebrations at public places, including at Yamuna riverbanks, water bodies and temples in Delhi, after a meeting on September 30. This had triggered protests by the BJP and Congress.

On Wednesday, the DDMA, in a meeting attended by Lt Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, allowed devotees to perform Chhath Puja at designated spots amid strict Covid protocols.

North East Delhi BJP MP Manoj Tiwari, who spearheaded the party's protests and took out a Rath Yatra against the ban, took to Twitter to congratulate people celebrating the festival.

Among others, he thanked the Delhi BJP and Chhath Puja Samitis for their agitation for permission to hold the festival at public places.

Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta congratulated people saying the DDMA's permission to Chhath was a fructification of the party's protests. ''The sustained protests by the party for allowing Chhatt festivities in the capital has finally fructified. It is a clear defeat of CM Arvind Kejriwal's anti-Hindu policies,'' he said.

He accused Kejriwal of trying to ''play with religious sentiments of the poorvanchalis with the excuse of COVID epidemic''.

Delhi BJP has always maintained the Chhath can be celebrated by following Covid safety protocols. For this, the party has already started vaccinating those devotees who haven't got the jabs so far,'' he said.

Chhath, celebrated after Diwali by people belonging to Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, involves the offering of 'Arghya' by fasting women to the Sun god in knee-deep water.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)