Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday accused the NDA government of turning the programme to clean Ganga as a “Hindutva project” by attempting to polarize politics through the initiative on the holy river.
“Don’t look it as a Hindutva project. This is not a Hindutva project. This is a national project. Don’t try to polarize politics through Ganga cleaning,” Ramesh told the government ahead of the first national dialogue on river Ganga – Ganga Manthan — being organized by the Centre tomorrow.
The former environment minister said the government’s Ganga Mission programme should be a people’s programme and “we must involve society”.
“But don’t make it on sadhus and sant’s programme. Ganga is a national river. Ganga defines Indian culture,” he said, adding Jawaharlal Nehru also spoke about the role of Ganga in Indian culture.
Union and state ministers, MPs, experts, NGOs, sadhus and sants are expected to participate in the day-long brainstorming on Ganga cleaning plan.
Spelling out the steps taken by the previous UPA government to conserve the holy river, Ramesh said, “The NDA is going about this whole thing as if nothing has happened.”
He accused the BJP-led government of not acknowledging the initiatives taken by the UPA including establishment of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) for cleaning Ganga.