“Poll Panel Slams Kejriwal Over ‘Yamuna Poisoned’ Remark, He Fires Back”
The Election Commission directed Arvind Kejriwal to answer several questions, which included what kind of poison was used, who found out about its importance and how and where it was found.
“If you have the courage, drink it” – Arvind Kejriwal responded negatively when the Election Commission asked for evidence to support his claim that the BJP’s Haryana government tried to “annihilate” the people who had committed suicide by mixing “poison” in the water of Yamuna. “We have four bottles… we will send each one of them… please drink it and show it to us. Then we will believe,” he said while pointing to a row of plastic bottles filled with Yamuna water.
A few hours ago, the Election Commission had directed Mr Kejriwal to present “factual evidence” by 11 am on Friday.
It also sought answers to five questions, including what kind of poison was used, who found out about its existence and how and where it was found. In his letter, the Election Commission rejected last night’s submission – a social media post in which Mr Kejriwal had cited the figures of the Delhi Water Board in which it was said that the level of ammonia in Yamuna has reached a serious level and it is “very dangerous for human health”.
The Election Commission accepted some of the claims of “fast growth in ammonia levels in water”, but indicated that it would not concern itself with the accusations of “being responsible for killing water terrorism”. It said that this issue would be left to the “capacity and discretion of governments”. Instead, the election body reprimanded the former Delhi chief minister for “complete silence… your widely circulated statement… that the government is poisoning the Yamuna with the intention of creating a massacre in Delhi (and) it is being compared to an action of war between two countries”.
“…No factual and legal evidence has been provided to support your statement.”
The Election Commission also said that prima facie these comments “have been found to promote animosity and hostility among various groups, and overall promote public disorder and unrest…”
The Election Commission further said that “such allegations have been made at a critical time of the campaign (for the Delhi Assembly elections scheduled to be held next week)”, “primarily, these pose a serious risk of endangering peace and prospects among states”. After this, the election commission gave time to submit a “specific and accurate reply”.
The controversy over the poisoning of Yamuna started on Monday when Mr Kejriwal accused the BJP of “misusing the water supply to generate income… it is expected that the blame for this will fall on his party”.
His comments were further encouraged by Chief Minister Atishi, who accused the BJP of “water terrorism” and wrote a letter to Vice President V. K. Saksena asking him to show the dangerous star of ammonia – 700 times more than the border – as red.
The BJP took a tough stand, first Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini accused Kejriwal of making “very false and fabricated statements” and demanded an apology from him.
Then Prime Minister Narendra Modi also got involved in the matter; Wednesday evening, in an election rally in Delhi, he said that his party would not dare to mix poison in the water which he drinks every day, and claimed that Kejriwal is trying to divert attention from the failure of cleaning the Yamuna.And, yesterday evening, in a drama video shared online, Shri Saini drank a handful of water directly from a river flowing through a village in Delhi.
This video was immediately questioned by the AAP, which claimed that the chief had in fact spit on the ground. BJP accused Mr. Kejriwal of committing an attack on Jawaharlal Nehru in order to “sanctify” the Video.
Congress too has got involved in this matter, in which senior party leader Rahul Gandhi reminded Mr Kejriwal of his promise made before 2020 elections that he would one day drink water from Yamuna to show its sanctity.
A case has also been filed against your leader in a Haryana court. Meanwhile, Delhi Water Board has also rejected Kejriwal’s allegations regarding poisoning of Yamuna. However, the Jal Nigam chief’s statement has been questioned by Aatishi, who suggested that he may have been forced to say so by the BJP through the action of the superintendents.
