Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, who in recent elections tried to bank on Hindutva politics to change his electoral fortunes, on Saturday raised questions about the cleanliness of the River Ganga saying he would not even touch the dirty water of Ganga. He also said that he refused to drink water bought from the Maha Kumbh.
“People should break free from superstition. I wouldn’t even touch the dirty water of the Ganga, where millions have bathed,” Thackeray said speaking at a programme organised to mark the 19th foundation day of his party.
The MNS chief said that his party leader, Bala Nandgaonkar, had brought holy water from the Maha Kumbh 2025, but he refused to drink it. “Bala Nandgaonkar had brought some water for me, I said, I am not going to take a bath. Who will drink that water? Covid has just passed and people were roaming around with masks on their faces for two years. Now, they are going there and taking a bath. Who will go and take a holy dip in that Ganga?” he said.
“On social media, we see people scrubbing themselves while bathing in the Ganga. Tell me, who would drink that water?” Thackeray added.
The MNS chief claimed that not just Ganga, but none of the rivers in the country were clean. “Faith should also have some meaning. Not a single river in the country is clean but we call it our mother. In foreign countries, their rivers are not called mother, but they are crystal clear. In our country, all polluted water is dumped into the rivers,” he said.
Thackeray said he has been hearing that the Ganga will be cleaned since the time of late former PM Rajiv Gandhi, but the truth is that Ganga has still not been cleaned. “I have been hearing claims that “Ganga will be cleaned soon” since Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister. Now is the time to come out of this myth,” he added.
Thackeray’s remarks have come on the backdrop of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report that found a high level of ‘faecal coliform’ bacteria in the Ganga river in Prayagraj, making it unfit for bathing. However, the UP government gave the assurance that Ganga river’s water was completely safe and was as pure as ‘alkaline water.’
