“I want to know who brought the Ganga, why did he bring it?… What effects does bathing in it have,” Prabhatsinh Pratapsinh Chauhan asked. “I want to know who brought the Ganga, why did he bring it?… What effects does bathing in it have,” Prabhatsinh Pratapsinh Chauhan asked.

A question by a BJP MP in the Lok Sabha about the origins of Ganga and the “effects” of bathing in it left many members amused on Thursday as the minister quoted a legend to say that King Bhagirath had brought it.

When the question was asked by Prabhatsinh Pratapsinh Chauhan, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan too wondered: “what is this? … Is this a question?”.

Chauhan raised the issue when the Minister of State for Water Resources Sanwar Lal Jat was replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour.

“I want to know who brought the Ganga, why did he bring it?… What effects does bathing in it have,” he asked.

This odd question left many members smiling while some others were seen having an apparently surprised look on their faces.

Jat said it was a “historical” matter and added it is known that Bhagirath had brought the river for the welfare of the masses. “Worship is done there,” he added.

According to scriptures, Bhagirath had propitiated lord Shiva to have the holy river brought down to earth from the heaven.

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