A bitter political war has ensued between the BJP and the Congress over the Ganga cleaning project. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh accused the NDA government of turning the programme to clean Ganga as a "Hindutva project" by attempting to polarise politics through the initiative on the holy river. Reacting to Ramesh's accusation, Union Minister Uma Bharti hit back at Ramesh, saying Congress should spare the river from communal politics.