New Delhi: Day before poll, Arvind Kejriwal, Former Chief Minister and Aam Aadami Party (AAP) Chief has been booked in connection with his ‘Yamuna poisoning’ remark in Haryana’s Kurukshetra district, reported PTI.
The FIR comes as the AAP chief is already facing BJP’s flak over his statement during a poll campaign. As per the complainant, Kejriwal ‘deliberately’ and ‘consciously’ made ‘provocative statements’ and levelled ‘wild allegations’ against Haryana government and the state of Haryana and the BJP.
Manchanda in his case alleged that Former Delhi CM and other AAP members conspired to give such false and misleading statements with an ‘ulterior motive and desperation to cause havoc and riots in Delhi and Haryana which would sway some votes towards him”.
The sub-divisional judicial magistrate in Shahabad has registered a case under sections including 192 (penalizes those who maliciously or wantonly provoke others with the intent to incite a riot), 196 (1) (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race) and 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
What Arvind Kejriwal Said
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had earlier accused the ruling BJP in Haryana of deliberately draining industrial waste into the Yamuna, alleging an attempt to endanger lives. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal claimed that the BJP was trying to kill people by “mixing poison” in the river.
Delhi Chief Minister Atishi also targeted the BJP, alleging that the party was “deliberately disrupting” the national capital’s water supply. She linked the issue to the upcoming February 5 assembly polls, asserting that a “historic loss” awaited the saffron party.
Kejriwal further accused the BJP of attempting to deprive Delhi residents of water for political motives. “BJP people in Haryana are mixing poison in the water and sending it to Delhi,” he alleged. “If people in Delhi drink this water, many will die.”
Raising concerns over water contamination, Kejriwal stated that the pollutants were beyond purification. “Can anything be more disgusting than this?” he asked. “The poison that is being mixed in the water cannot even be cleaned in water treatment plants.”
The Delhi Chief Minister also justified supply restrictions in several areas. “For the safety of the people of Delhi, the water supply has to be stopped in many areas,” he said in a recent post on X.
BJP Over ‘Poison In Yamuna’ Remark
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini hit back at Kejriwal for attempting to divert attention from his alleged failures by spreading “false propaganda” regarding the Yamuna water quality. Saini claimed Kejriwal’s remarks about the river being poisoned were aimed at creating tensions between Haryana and Delhi.
“The Yamuna is not just a source of water for me but a matter of faith,” Saini said. He added that he had personally consumed the river’s water to disprove Kejriwal’s claims.
Questioning the logic behind the allegations, Saini said, “We have our brothers and sisters in Delhi. Will we be poisoning your water?” He further pointed out that Delhi was home to the prime minister and BJP’s central leadership, asking, “Are we supplying some different water to them?”
According to Saini, Kejriwal spread the “fake narrative” to deflect public scrutiny over water quality issues in the national capital. “Kejriwal knew that the public will ask him about the bad water quality in Delhi and hence, started spreading this fake narrative,” he alleged.
