AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: The Election Commission on Thursday claimed that Arvind Kejriwal's remarks about river water poisoning could create “permanent scars” among people but an unfazed AAP chief hit back, accusing poll body chief Rajiv Kumar of playing politics for a “post retirement job” and that he should contest Delhi elections.
Not satisfied with Kejriwal's response to its notice, the EC also gave him a fresh notice to explain his charges against Haryana government while asking him not to mix the issue of “ongoing, longstanding, legally governed issue” of increased use of ammonia and river water poisoning.
Prima facie, the EC said, it found that his allegations promoted disharmony and enmity between people, public disorder and unrest “even by the most sober interpretation”.
The latest action came a day after Kejriwal responded to EC notice claiming that the raw water received from the BJP-ruled state in the recent past has been "highly contaminated and extremely poisonous" for human health.
Insisting that his remarks would leave "permanent scars" between well-identified groups of residents of Haryana and Delhi, the EC asked him to explain the kind of poison mixed by Haryana government in Yamuna, supporting evidence about quantity and nature and manner of poisoning that could have caused genocide, as claimed by him.
He will also have to share details of engineers, location and methodology of detecting the “poison” by Delhi Jal Board by Friday 11 am, failing which the Commission will be free to take an appropriate decision. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked Kejriwal for his allegation.
Soon after receiving the fresh letter from the poll body, Kejriwal alleged that the poll body was playing politics, as it does not see distribution of money and other articles by AAP rivals to woo voters.
"The EC is playing politics because Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv is eyeing a post-retirement job. History would judge him as the worst CEC for the things he did. I don't want to use harsh words for the EC but if Rajiv Kumar wants to do politics, he should contest elections," he said, alleging that Kumar has destroyed EC’s credibility.
He also attacked BJP and Congress saying that he was sending bottles of water with high ammonia content and treated with chlorine to Home Minister Amit Shah, Haryana Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva and Rahul and dared them to drink it in public.
Justifying his remarks, he told reporters the ammonia level in Yamuna had reached 7 ppm despite Atishi repeatedly requesting her Haryana counterpart to take action. However, he said, the ammonia level had come down to 3 ppm after Atishi and other AAP leaders went public.
"We will have to close down water treatment plants when ammonia levels cross 1 ppm because mixing high level of ammonia and chlorine, which is used to treat water, would be disastrous...The Haryana Chief Minister refused to pick up calls from Atishi after initially promising to act," he added.
Delhi Assembly Election 2025 | The first of two state assembly polls this year sees a three-way contest between AAP, Congress, and BJP in the nation's capital. AAP decided to contest the polls alone, causing rumours of a rift in I.N.D.I.A. BJP, meanwhile, is hoping the liquor excise policy scam and pollution in Delhi will give the saffron party an edge over AAP. Kejriwal, on the other hand, has different plans with his demand for reservations for Delhi Jats. Congress will also be looking to make its presence felt and has not held back from attacking its own alliance partner. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
Subscribe and follow DH on Whatsapp, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to never miss out on anything.