Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, along with her cabinet ministers, marked the beginning of their tenure with a visit to the Yamuna river at Vasudev Ghat, where they participated in an aarti ceremony. This event, reminiscent of the daily rituals along the Ganga in Haridwar and Varanasi, carried both symbolic and political significance. It highlighted the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) return to power in Delhi after 28 years and underscored their commitment to cleaning the heavily polluted river.

While assuming office at the Delhi Secretariat, Chief Minister Gupta emphasized her government’s resolve to deliver on their election promises. “We will fulfill all our commitments. At 5 PM, we will head to Yamuna Ghat for an aarti, and the first cabinet meeting will follow at 7 PM,” she stated.

During the election campaign, the BJP pledged to rejuvenate the Yamuna within three years, a promise reinforced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the party's victory celebrations. Modi expressed his vision to make the Yamuna a defining feature of Delhi, stressing that determination and sustained efforts would bring this goal to fruition.

The BJP's manifesto, the “Viksit Bharat Sankalp Patra,” proposed the establishment of a “Yamuna Kosh” to support river restoration and develop the riverfront. The cleanup strategy outlined by the Lieutenant Governor’s office includes desilting and clearing waste from the river and its key tributaries like the Najafgarh drain, expanding sewage treatment capacity to 1,000 million gallons per day, and increasing effluent treatment capacity to 220 MLD. Continuous monitoring of industrial discharges and wastewater treatment plants will be ensured to maintain progress.

Ahead of Gupta’s oath-taking, work had already commenced. Officials confirmed that trash removal and desilting operations began using skimmers, weed harvesters, and dredging equipment.

The BJP’s sweeping victory, securing 48 out of 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly, was driven by widespread dissatisfaction with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over corruption allegations and civic issues, particularly the deteriorating state of the Yamuna, persistent air pollution, and unaddressed sanitation concerns despite AAP’s control over the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

The condition of the Yamuna became a pivotal campaign issue in the final stretch. Arvind Kejriwal, AAP leader and former Chief Minister, accused the BJP-led Haryana government of contaminating the river. However, the BJP and Congress countered by highlighting AAP’s failure to clean the river despite reportedly spending over Rs 6,000 crore in the past five years.

With the new administration's first public act centering on the Yamuna, the BJP seeks to signal its intent to transform Delhi's lifeline from a neglected drain into a symbol of the city’s resurgence.