AAP govt hurt religious sentiments of Purvanchalis: Delhi Congress chief

Arvinder Singh Lovely accused the AAP government of hurting the religious sentiments of the people from Purvanchal residing by excluding Chhath puja from the list of dry days.

New Delhi: Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely on Tuesday accused the AAP government of hurting the religious sentiments of the people from Purvanchal residing in the national capital by excluding Chhath puja from the list of dry days.

The Bhojpuri-speaking natives of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand settled in Delhi are considered as Purvanchalis. According to an estimate, they form around one-third of the total 1.46 crore votes in the national capital.

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“Even though the Delhi government declared six dry days till December 2023, they have hurt the religious sentiments of the ‘Purvanchal’ devotees by leaving out Chhath puja from the list,” Lovely alleged.

In a notification issued on Friday, the Delhi government’s excise department said 637 liquor stores run by four government agencies will remain closed on October 2 (Gandhi Jayanti), October 24 (Dussehra), October 28 (Valmiki Jayanti), November 12 (Deepavali), October 27 (Guru Nanak Jayanti) and December 25 (Christmas).

Speaking about the hike in the price of commercial LPG cylinders by Rs 209, Lovely alleged that the Central government has “burdened the poor” ahead of the festive season.

“The Congress demands immediate rollback of the commercial LPG cylinder price hike. The people are agitated with the Centre’s move and this will reflect in the BJP’s vote bank in the Lok Sabha elections next year,” he said.

The Delhi Congress president held a meeting with workers and leaders from four districts of East and North East Delhi parliamentary constituencies. Leaders, including former MP Sandeep Dikshit, ex-Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar, and ex-Delhi ministers Parvez Hashmi and Narendra Nath were present at the meeting.

Appealing to the Congress workers to have direct interaction with the people in their areas, Lovely said the suggestions of all workers will be taken into account and a committee will be formed to implement those.