New Delhi, Jun 21 (PTI) Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Saturday performed yoga on the banks of the Yamuna river in northeast Delhi's Sonia Vihar on the occasion of International Day of Yoga (IDY).
Across 11 locations in the national capital, ministers, MLAs and BJP MPs joined the celebrations. Gupta was joined by BJP MP Manoj Tiwari and her cabinet minister Kapil Mishra in Sonia Vihar.
On the choice of the venue, Gupta said they wanted to show people that the cleaning work of the river is underway.
"Yamuna river is the symbol of our faith but the previous governments have ignored it. They did not work to clean it. But in the four months that we have been in power, we have worked to clean it," she said.
"People ask me, where will the cruise run? I want to tell them, the cruise will run on this river where students performed yoga today on boats," Gupta added.
Hitting out at the AAP dispensation, she said they associated yoga with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and did not celebrate the occasion.
"If they associate yoga with Prime Minister Modi, what can we do? Tomorrow, he might leave his food if he sees PM's association with it. After seeing BJP government in Delhi, he left the national capital," she charged.
Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood said that for the first time, the city government has officially celebrated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative under the leadership of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.
"The 11th International Yoga Day was marked simultaneously at 11 locations, with more than 20,000 yoga practitioners taking part in the events. Yoga Day was also observed on a large scale in colleges, and nearly 10,000 yoga enthusiasts gathered at Chhatrasal Stadium today," he added.
Sood, who holds multiple portfolios, led the event at Chhatrasal Stadium. Public Works Department and Water Minister Parvesh Verma performed yoga at Thyagaraja Stadium.
In a post on X he said, "Heartiest greetings to all the countrymen on International Day of Yoga. Today I got the opportunity to do yoga with practitioners at Thyagaraja Stadium." "This is not just of a yoga session, but is a living proof of India's cultural heritage and the spirit of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' established in the world under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji. Today the whole world is connecting with the ancient tradition of India through yoga," he added.
On Friday, Gupta had launched a yoga anthem sung by music composer Amit Trivedi.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)