‘Poison in Yamuna’ row: CEC doing politics, alleges AAP chief
New Delhi, Jan 30: Dissatisfied with his response, the Election Commission on Thursday asked Arvind Kejriwal not to mix the issue of increased ammonia in Yamuna with his allegation of river poisoning and gave him a fresh opportunity to explain his charge, prompting the AAP supremo to accuse poll body chief Rajiv Kumar of doing politics.
The EC asked the former Delhi chief minister to provide factual evidence with specific and pointed response to the type, quantity, nature and manner of poisoning of the Yamuna.
Kejriwal, who is contesting the Delhi polls from the New Delhi seat, was asked to share details of engineers, location and methodology of detecting the “poison” by Delhi Jal Board staff by Friday 11 am, failing which the Commission will be free to take appropriate decisions in the matter.
Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal slammed Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kumar and said, “No one has damaged the Election Commission as much as Rajiv Kumar has. If he wants to do politics, contest elections. He is eyeing a post-retirement job.” The AAP chief said that he will not let the people of Delhi drink poisonous water till he is alive, claiming that they (BJP) will arrest him in the next two days, but he is not afraid.
Targeting Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini on Thursday, Kejriwal said the CM “was trapped in his own drama” and claimed that Saini could not have even a sip of the water during his visit to Palla.
“Yet, he wants the people of Delhi to consume this poisonous water,” he added.
“Our MP Sanjay Singh, along with other AAP leaders, will go to BJP headquarters with these water bottles. If Amit Shah, Nayab Saini, Virendra Sachdeva, and Rahul Gandhi, who have conspired to make Delhi’s people drink poisonous water, drink it, we will accept our mistake,” he said at the presser.
AAP leaders dare Shah to drink ammonia mixed water
Later, AAP leaders, including Singh, were stopped by police near the BJP headquarters here, as they tried to give ammonia mixed water to the party leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Both the BJP and the Congress launched attacks on Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party over the Yamuna pollution.
Addressing a poll rally in Rohini assembly constituency here, Shah on Thursday alleged that Kejriwal allowed the Yamuna river to get polluted and forced the people of Delhi to drink its water.
With people asking what happened to fulfilling his promise of making the Yamuna clean like the Thames river in London, Kejriwal is making an “excuse” by falsely accusing the BJP government in Haryana of mixing poison in the river, Shah charged.
He termed Kejriwal’s accusation against the Haryana government “petty politics” and alleged the AAP government could not fulfil Kejriwal’s promise of cleaning the Yamuna during its 10-year rule due to “corruption”.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also lashed out at the AAP supremo over his five-year-old promise of making Yamuna water potable, saying it reflected his “hollowness”. (PTI)
Swati Maliwal detained for dumping garbage outside Kejriwal’s residence
New Delhi, Jan 30: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal was detained by the police Thursday afternoon after she dumped three mini-truckloads of garbage outside the residence of former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in protest.
Earlier in the day, Maliwal visited Vikaspuri, where she claimed that the streets were choked with waste, posing severe health and hygiene issues for residents.
Maliwal, along with a group of supporters, collected the garbage in three mini trucks and headed to Kejriwal’s residence at 5, Ferozeshah Road.
Accompanied by hundreds of women holding placards that read, “Muskuraiye, AAP Delhi Mein Hain,” Maliwal dumped the garbage outside Kejriwal’s house, using a shovel to throw waste onto the ground. Soon after, she was confronted by female police personnel and removed from the site. She was subsequently detained and taken to the Parliament Street Police Station.
According to Maliwal, she was released after a few hours and an FIR was registered against her under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code for violating prohibitory orders.
After her release, Maliwal told reporters, “For the past ten years, Arvind Kejriwal has ensured that Delhi becomes a giant garbage dump. Roads are broken, drains are overflowing, and waste is piling up everywhere. Women and children are forced to live in unhygienic conditions, and yet the government does nothing.” Earlier, Maliwal shared a video on X, showing her and others collecting garbage from Vikaspuri. “There have been heaps of garbage on the roads in Vikaspuri for years. People are very angry. They are going to collect all this garbage and dump it at Kejriwal’s house,” she wrote in the post. She added, “The condition of the entire Delhi has deteriorated. The filth and stink that Delhiites face daily will be faced by Kejriwal ji today. (PTI)