Delhi BJP leader Manoj Tiwari to hold special vaccination drive for Chhath Puja

Oct 25,2021

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Manoj Tiwari on Monday announced a special vaccination drive for people who will perform Chhath Puja next month.

Meanwhile, the BJP, which governs all the three municipal corporations, has also asked its councillors to start cleaning the ghats and make necessary arrangements at places where the puja is usually organised.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will take a call on Chhath Puja celebrations in the Capital on October 27.

Tiwari said, “The Chhath Puja special vaccination drive will be inaugurated by Union housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday at Burari. To begin with, 10,000 people will be vaccinated. We want people to celebrate the festival after taking all the necessary precautions against Covid-19.” A private organisation has been roped in for the vaccination drive, Tiwari said.

Tiwari, who is the BJP’s Purvanchal face in the Capital, has been advocating for Chhath Puja in the city ever since DDMA banned public celebrations of the puja while allowing Dussehra, Ramlila and Durga Puja celebrations in the Capital.

Earlier this month, Tiwari met with puja committees and held rath yatra in areas with a large presence of the Purvanchali community to galvanise support.

“Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal supported the ban initially. Following protests by the BJP and the people, the CM wrote a letter (to Delhi lieutenant governor requesting the celebrations be allowed) to take credit. But we don’t want to politicise the festival,” said Tiwari, who is the former chief of the Delhi BJP.

With municipal elections in the Capital scheduled next year, all political parties are trying to woo the Purvanchali community, which constitutes 30-35% of voters in Delhi, according to government data.

While there are several communities in the city, the Purvanchali community has emerged as a dominant force in electoral politics. While the community was dominant in just a few pockets in west Delhi in the early 1990s, today it plays a decisive role in 25-30 assembly seats, including Kirari, Burari, Karawal Nagar, Ghonda, Sangam Vihar, Nangloi Jat, Badli, and in parliamentary constituencies such as West Delhi, East Delhi, North East Delhi, North West Delhi, and South Delhi, according to several political analysts.