Following rigorous Covid guidelines, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) let devotees celebrate Chhath Puja at selected locations around the national capital. However, after a meeting on September 30, the DDMA, which develops Covid management policy for the city, prohibited Chhath Puja festivities in public areas, including the Yamuna riverbanks, water bodies, and temples in Delhi.
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Opposition parties, including the BJP and the Congress, have protested the ban on Chhath festivities. “Under rigorous Covid guidelines, only a small number of persons would be permitted to do the puja “Minister Manish Sisodia stated following a DDMA meeting during a news briefing.
Earlier this month, amid BJP and Congress, protests over the Chhath Puja ban, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sought Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to convene a meeting of the DDMA to allow public festivities. After Diwali, Hindus from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh celebrate Chhath, which entails fasting women giving ‘Arghya’ to the Sun deity in knee-deep water.
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Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had earlier in the day inaugurated a special COVID-19 vaccination drive in Burari’s Ibrahimpur hamlet for devotees who will be fasting for the Chhath festival. BJP MP Manoj Tiwari, the party’s Purvanchal face in the national capital, accompanied Mr. Puri. The Purvanchal community, largely concentrated in East Delhi, has a substantial presence in the national capital and plays an important role in elections.
