Mumbai: The BJP on Friday sought to make a big issue about protection of river Ganga by bringing in a special resolution at its national executive meeting here.
The resolution on "protection and de-pollution of the sacred Ganga" was passed at the concluding day`s session of the executive.
However, the party said it was not seeking any political mileage on the issue.
"Ganga is beyond politics, it is the soul of India. Ganga binds the country and is our cultural heritage. Its waters irrigate our land.
"We are not seeking any political mileage but are making it our national mission," party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters after the resolution was passed.
On BJP leader Uma Bharti`s work on Ganga, he said, "The work Umaji is doing and the people associated with the work, it is not just Uttarakhand centric. There is a National Ganga River Basin Authority under the Prime Minister, as you are aware."
In the resolution, the BJP expressed its "profound concern over the alarmingly high level of pollution in the river Ganga, made worse by several obstructions" in its flow.
"These developments have threatened the natural life of a river that has been regarded by successive generations of Indians, since time immemorial, as one of the most sacred symbols and sustainers of India`s cultural and civilisational identity," it said.
The BJP also deplored the failure of the Ganga River Basin Authority, chaired by the Prime Minister, to find viable and enduring solutions to the various issues brought up by religious leaders, environmentalists and social activists in an insistent manner over the past several years.
PTI
