In a mishap underscoring the ongoing political tussle over the Yamuna’s state, Delhi BJP MLA Ravinder Singh Negi tumbled into the river last week while recording a social media video to highlight its supposed cleanliness. The embarrassing episode unfolded just before the Chhath Puja festivities, which wrapped up today, as captured in a brief 19-second clip circulating online.
Footage shows the Patparganj representative kneeling by the riverbank, clutching two bottles of water. With evident enthusiasm, he declares in Hindi, “paani pike dikhani hai,” translating to “should drink the water and show.” In the next instant, as he shifts to stand, Negi loses his footing on the slippery edge, toppling backward into the murky flow. A nearby companion lunges to steady him but misses, leaving the lawmaker to flail momentarily. He manages to haul himself to safety by gripping a weathered wooden beam protruding from the bank.
The viral video quickly drew ridicule from the opposition. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Sanjeev Jha reposted it on X, lambasting the BJP stalwart with pointed sarcasm. “Making empty promises has become a profession for BJP leaders of the national capital,” Jha wrote. He escalated the jab: “He has even surpassed the peak of lies. Perhaps, fed up with this politics of lies and pretense, Yamuna Maiyya has called him to her side herself.”
This incident amplifies the acrimonious back-and-forth between the erstwhile AAP administration and the current BJP-led government, both vying to claim credit or deflect blame for the Yamuna’s persistent pollution woes amid the festival’s rituals. Last week, AAP heavyweight Saurabh Bharadwaj upped the ante, issuing a bold gauntlet to the BJP brass. He urged Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Minister Parvesh Verma to publicly swig a liter of Yamuna water to substantiate their assertions of its purity. “The chemical that was sprayed by the previous Delhi government is being sprayed by the current government,” Bharadwaj noted. “If Rekha Gupta says the Yamuna is clean, I ask her and Parvesh Verma to come and drink a litre of Yamuna water. I will then be convinced it’s clean.”
The BJP, undeterred, fired back by spotlighting AAP’s track record, alleging the party squandered more than Rs 6,500 crore on ineffective rejuvenation initiatives over its 10-year tenure in Delhi. As Chhath devotees concluded their riverside observances today, the exchange laid bare the deep-seated partisan rifts shadowing one of India’s most beleaguered waterways, where rhetoric often outpaces tangible revival.
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