When will you take a dip in Yamuna, Delhi is waiting: Rahul Gandhi to Kejriwal

With Yamuna being at the centre of the election discourse in Delhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday, 30 January, released a video flagging the issue of pollutants in the river and challenged AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal to take a dip in it.

He said the "horrific condition" of Yamuna is the result of the confluence of negligence and corruption of the governments of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kejriwal.

Rahul Gandhi shared on his YouTube channel his visit to the banks of the river on Wednesday here in which he highlighted how polluted the water of the Yamuna was.

"If you are a Delhi resident like me, then you must be very sad to see the plight of Yamuna ji. Yesterday morning I reached the banks of Yamuna ji and discussed with the local residents, boatmen and activists concerned about the condition of Yamuna," Rahul Gandhi said in his post in Hindi along with the video.

"Yamuna is filled with garbage, dirt, stench and sewage - meaning that there is no river left. According to researchers, clean water of the river is taken out for sewage treatment and the sewage is dumped in the river itself," he said.

Rahul Gandhi said earlier that devotees used to come in large numbers to take a dip in the Yamuna but now only a few people come and that too by risking their health.

"Ever since coming to power in Delhi, Kejriwal has been making empty promises - 'we will clean Yamuna, I will take a dip or else don't vote', and many more long speeches. And today again he is sitting with a bottle of Yamuna water making allegations and counter-allegations," Rahul Gandhi said.

"This is not just an insult to Yamuna ji, it is a mockery of the lives of the people of Delhi that has been going on for years. This horrific condition of Yamuna is the result of the confluence of negligence and corruption of the Modi and Kejriwal governments.

In a post in Hindi on X, Rahul Gandhi said, "Kejriwal ji, now 2025 has come. When will you take a dip in the Yamuna? Delhi is waiting!

In the video, Rahul Gandhi tells an activist that talk of cleaning Yamuna is a 'jumla' and has been made an excuse to make money by the dispensation.

In another post in Hindi on X, Rahul Gandhi said, “We have to look at Yamuna not just as a water body but as a living being. We have to respect it. When the government has left Yamuna to its fate, then we have to come together and take steps to change its condition.”

He urged people to share their suggestions on an online link he shared.

Speaking at a rally earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi also lashed out at Kejriwal over his five-year-old promise of making Yamuna water potable and his press conference on Thursday, saying it reflected his "hollowness".

The AAP supremo on Thursday claimed that for the past several days, water with extremely dangerous ammonia levels has been flowing into the Yamuna from Haryana.

"When CM Atishi called her Haryana counterpart, urging him to stop sending this toxic water, he did nothing," Kejriwal alleged.