In a move to woo Purvanchali voters,  leaders from the AAP, Delhi Congress and the BJP participated in the Chhath puja by offering 'arghya' to the setting Sun and performing rituals in their constituencies across the national Capital. The BJP and the AAP also sparred over the issue of preparations of the ghats for the auspicious festival even as they look keen to eye on the vote of the sizeable Purvanchali population in Delhi.

Chief Minister Atishi on Thursday celebrated Chhath Puja at a ghat in Balmukund section of Giri Nagar where she was seen performing the rituals with other people in the national capital. Following this, she went to the KTC Camp in Sriniwaspuri where she said, “Under the guidance of Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi Government has been constructing beautiful Chhath ghats across Delhi over the past decade for our Purvanchali brothers and sisters, so they never feel distant from their villages. We aim to let them celebrate Chhath with the same joy and fervour in Delhi.”

Joining the celebrations in East Delhi, AAP supremo and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed that he is happy that this time the Delhi government has organized Chhath Puja at more than 1800 places. “Earlier in 2015, when our government was formed, Chhath Puja was celebrated at less than 250 places. But now we have ensured that you people do not have to go too far from your home to worship,” he said.

Further, different BJP leaders also celebrated the festival including Union Minister of State Harsh Malhotra who reached eight puja ghats including Seemapuri, ITO, Hathi Ghat, Sarai Kale Khan and wished the Chhath devotees.

Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva participated in the Puja at Chhath Ghats in Mangolpuri, Bhalswa, Krishna Nagar and Mayur Vihar. “The BJP government started setting up Chhath Ghats on the Yamuna bank in 1994 as per the Purvanchali tradition, but it is regrettable that during the last few years, the Arvind Kejriwal government has deprived them of their traditional worship method and forced them to worship on artificial ghats,” he said, adding that it is sad that this year the Kejriwal government did not even build sufficient number of artificial ghats nor provided proper facilities on the ghats.

South Delhi BJP MP Ramveer Singh Bidhuri participated in the programs organized in about 27 small and big Chhath Puja pandals in Sangam Vihar, Badarpur, Tughlakabad, Mehrauli, Bijwasan, Mahipalpur, Dwarka and Palam. He also distributed sweets among those celebrating.

Meanwhile, in a hot exchange of words, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged, "Delhi government has organised Chhath Puja celebrations here at the Millennium Park. BJP's DDA did injustice to our purvanchali brothers and didn't allow them to celebrate Chhath at Satpula Park.”

"In Delhi, the BJP has opposed Chhath and the Purvanchal community, showing animosity toward Chhath observers,” he said, citing an instance in the Greater Kailash constituency where he alleged that a BJP representative tried to prevent Chhath celebrations.

Hitting back at AAP, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said that in the last two-four days, Delhiites have once again seen the anarchist and disgusting face of AAP MLAs and people will soon teach them a political lesson in elections.

“Delhi government minister Saurabh Bhardwaj, MLA Somnath Bharti and Akhileshpati Tripathi have tried to disrupt Chhath Puja arrangements at different places in the past few days, which has shamed the people of Delhi. Never before in Delhi have people seen MLAs trying to take over a Puja ceremony in a political way,” he said.