NEW DELHI: After days of hectic preparations by the Delhi government, multiple venues on the Yamuna banks and other places in the capital witnessed the first big day of the Chhath festivities on Monday. Thousands of people, especially women from eastern states, converged at the ghats specifically created for the festival.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta joined the celebrations at different ghats, offering prayers alongside devotees. She began the visits from Chhath Park in Mangolpuri, where she took part in rituals and interacted with women observing the traditional fast.
She was accompanied by North West Delhi MP Yogendra Chandolia, Mangolpuri MLA Rajkumar Chauhan and Delhi unit president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Virendra Sachdeva. Later, Gupta visited Sonia Vihar Pushta in east Delhi, taking a boat ride in the Yamuna and participating in the evening arghya, the ritualistic offering of water to the sun, at Ram Ghat and Shyam Ghat amid devotional songs. She lit lamps at these ghats.
At Vasudev Ghat near Kashmiri Gate, the final stop of her visit, the Chief Minister joined large crowds in offering prayers to the setting sun. The celebrations there also featured folk music and traditional dance performances.
Gupta said that the festival symbolised faith, discipline, and gratitude towards nature and praised the capital’s residents for maintaining cleanliness and devotion during the celebrations. “This splendour, grandness, and divinity of the Chhath being celebrated now is providing succour to the Delhi people. I pray to Chhati Maiya for the prosperity and happiness of Delhi,” she said.
Gupta’s cabinet colleagues and other senior leaders of the state unit, including West Delhi MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat and Chandni Chowk MP Praveen Khandelwal, participated in the celebrations at various locations. Delhi PWD Minister Parvesh Verma also celebrated the festival by performing the rituals. He said that he had created specific arrangements for the Chhath at his official residence.The government has not yet released the official visitor count at the ghats.
Yamuna ‘reels in’ MLA Ravi Negi
A river-cleaning awareness shoot turned dramatic when Patparganj BJP MLA Ravi Negi slipped and fell into the Yamuna while filming a reel near one of the ghats. He was quickly rescued by his team and escaped unhurt, officials said. A video of his slipping down went viral on social media on Monday, putting BJP and AAP supporters into a verbal duel.
Festival & Politics
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta performed sandhya arghya as part of the Chhath Puja celebrations at a ghat in Sonia Vihar
Speculations over Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Vasudev ghat for Chhath puja surge
Major traffic congestion reported near the ITO bridge, other places causing long delays for commuters
Over 45,000 devotees were estimated at ghats near Old Iron Bridge and Geeta Colony each
Bhola Ghat in Kalindi Kunj was projected to see nearly 3 lakh visitors
Official visitor count from the government are yet to be released
