An Indian politician was taken to the hospital after drinking water from a ‘sacred’ river in an attempt to show it was clean and safe, according to local reports.

Bhagwant Mann, chief minister of the Punjab region, was filmed drinking a whole glass of water from the Kali Bein, a rivulet that is considered holy to Sikhs, according to The Indian Express.

According to the Express, Mann was trying to demonstrate the effectiveness of a 22-year project to clean up the river. While there he announced a wider project to clean up rivers and drains statewide, India Today reported.

Mann’s Aam Admi Party tweeted the footage on Sunday, writing in Punjabi about the cleaning project and the rivulet’s holy associations.

source yahoo.com