Task of cleaning Yamuna to be completed before next LS polls: Home Minister Shah

New Delhi, Oct 9 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah unveiled projects worth Rs 1,816 crore on Thursday to rejuvenate the Yamuna, and said the path to cleaning the river had become clearer under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking at the event, Shah hit out at the AAP and Congress governments, and accused them of indulging in corruption and not taking steps to clean the river.

The resolve to clean the Yamuna is not a political one but to honour its revered status among people, he stressed.

"Today's programme has a different significance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that cleaning the Yamuna will be the topmost priority and will be completed before the next Lok Sabha polls. Even the AAP-da government that was in power had also talked about rejuvenating the river. They had said that they would take a dip in the river.

"They did not do it but Parvesh Verma ensured that their cutout was made to take a dip. The cutout became ill and had to be admitted to Safdarjung Hospital," he said, taking a dig at AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal.

In 2020, Kejriwal had promised that before the next elections, they would ensure that the Yamuna became so clean that people would be able to take a dip in it. He had said he would join people in taking a dip.

He said that AAP was "drowned" by the people of Delhi.

"There was a meeting held under the leadership of the prime minister. He said that as corruption will be stopped and the advertisements will be less, the path to clean the river will become clearer," he added.

Hitting out at the AAP government, he said the garbage mountains had become prominent during their tenure.

"I want to tell you that by January 1, 2028 you won't be able to find garbage mountains in Delhi. A beautiful garden will come up at their place," he said.

Accusing the AAP government of not allowing the central government schemes in Delhi, he praised the Chief Minister Rekha Gupta-led government for implementing the Ayushman Bharat Yojana in the first week itself.

"They were involved in so many scams. Even the Congress was involved in corruption. But there has not been a single allegation of corruption against Modi. The BJP is dedicated to people," he said. PTI SLB/SSM SLB MNK MNK