Delhi govt declares November 20 a public holiday on account of 'Chhath Puja'
The Delhi government on Tuesday announced that November 20 will be a public holiday on account of Chhath Puja. This comes after the Delhi government, last week, decided to ban community 'Chhath Pooja' celebrations near the ghats to mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus.
“Chhat Pooja is an important festival for the people of NCT of Delhi. Accordingly, Government of NCT Delhi has decided to declare 20th November as public holidayon account of Chhat Pooja. Necessary notification in this regard may be issue,” the order, signed by Dy CM Manish Sisodia, read.
Earlier in the day, BJP Puravnchal Morcha held a protest march towards the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal against the government’s decision of banning Chhath Puja on the banks of river Yamuna and public ghats.
Shouting slogans against the Kejriwal government and demanding that the chief minister should either lift the ban or resign, the protesters claimed that they will celebrate Chhath, no matter what.
“The government has opened all the markets. The DTC buses are plying with no social distancing norms. But the government is banning the puja on the pretext of the COVID-19. This is clearly a failure of this government. Rather than banning celebrations, arrangements should have been made to ensure social distancing,” said Adesh Gupta, the President of the Delhi BJP unit.
