Delhi BJP chief hospitalised days after taking dip in Yamuna

Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party chief Virendra Sachdeva was admitted to the RML Nursing Home on Saturday with complaints of itching and breathing difficulties, two days after he took a dip in the heavily-polluted Yamuna to highlight the alleged failure of the Aam Aadmi Party government to clean the river.

IMAGE: Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva takes a dip in the Yamuna river to mark his protest against the Delhi government with the rising pollution in the river as well as the city, in New Delhi on Thursday, October 24, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

On Thursday, Sachdeva took a dip in the Yamuna at the Chhath Ghat and slammed former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his 'failure' to fulfil his promise to clean the river by 2025.

After taking the dip, Sachdeva faced skin rashes and slight discomfort in breathing for which he was examined at the RML Hospital where the doctors prescribed him medicines for three days.

However, on Saturday morning, the BJP leader was admitted to the RML Nursing Home after he complained of itching and breathlessness.

He doesn't have any past history of similar problems, Delhi BJP media cell said in a statement.

Wishing Sachdeva a speedy recovery, senior AAP leader and Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that BJP leaders should now realise that their 'theatrics' will not clean the river.

On Thursday, Sachdeva 'apologised' to Yamuna for the AAP government's 'failure' in cleaning its water, promising to form a separate authority for its rejuvenation if the BJP wins the Assembly elections scheduled in Delhi next year.

The politics over Yamuna intensified in Delhi after a layer of toxic froth appeared on the river surface due to heavy contents of pollutants, leading to a squabble between the ruling AAP and the opposition BJP.

The war of words has become even more intense in view of the upcoming Chhath festival that is widely celebrated in Delhi-NCR by the Purvanchali people.

Before the imposition of a ban, a large number of women used to gather along the banks of Yamuna during Chhath to worship the Sun god in knee-deep waters of the river.

The AAP leaders have been claiming that the toxic froth in Yamuna at Kalindikunj has been caused by the release of millions of gallons of untreated industrial waste-water into the river from drains in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, both BJP-ruled states.