On Sunday, lieutenant governor V K Saxena told outgoing CM Atishi that you lost because of the curse of Yamuna Maa, he said this when she visited Raj Bhawan to submit her papers.
Saxena also told Atishi that he had warned her boss Arvind Kejriwal about the curse of Yamuna after he got the Supreme Court to stall a project to clean the river. According to sources in Raj Bhawan, Atishi did not respond to the LG’s remarks.
When approached by TOI, the LG’s secretariat refused to comment on this account of Saxena’s conversation with Atishi. The warning about the curse has its roots in a standoff between Saxena and Kejriwal two years ago. Faced with high levels of pollution in Yamuna, in Jan 2023, the National Green Tribunal had set up a high-level committee under LG to oversee rejuvenation of the river.
As the panel went about its task, Kejriwal voiced his support and offered assistance. However, Delhi government subsequently challenged the NGT order in the SC, with senior advocate A M Singhvi arguing that a domain expert should lead the panel. The stay has remained in place for over two years now.
During a meeting with Kejriwal after the SC ruling, Saxena is learnt to have told the AAP chief that he would face the curse of Yamuna.
Delhi government’s change in stance in the SC was attributed by the bureaucracy to Kejriwal’s fear that credit for the project would not accrue to AAP if it was executed under LG. In 2015, Kejriwal had promised to clean the Yamuna within five years but failed to initiate concrete measures.
