Haryana CM Saini challenges Kejriwal to drink Yamuna water at Wazirabad

Chandigarh/New Delhi: In a fresh attack on AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on the Yamuna water quality issue, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Friday challenged him to drink the river's water at the Wazirabad point.

He also accused Kejriwal of resorting to cheap politics to cover up his failures.

"For the past decade, Kejriwal has forced the people of Delhi to drink contaminated water," Saini said.

He presented water samples from both Haryana and Delhi to reporters at Yamuna Ghat in Wazirabad (Delhi) on Friday and laid stress on the significant difference between the two.

Saini pointed out that he drank the water supplied by Haryana to Delhi at Palla Ghat on the Haryana-Delhi border on Wednesday, contrasting it with the water released by Delhi that, he said, was undrinkable.

Kejriwal talked of cleaning the Yamuna but did nothing for 10 years. For political gain, he only played dirty politics, the BJP leader alleged.

He neither cleaned drains, sewers, nor sewage treatment plants, the Haryana chief minister alleged and added Kejriwal was now blaming others for his failures.

The Yamuna is holy but the water from drains in the national capital that flows into it is not treated by the AAP government, Saini claimed.

Kejriwal alleged on January 27 that the BJP government in Haryana had mixed poison in the water supplied to Delhi through the Yamuna.

He had said the BJP wanted to mix "poison" in the water supplied to Delhi to trigger chaos so that the AAP could be blamed for people dying.

The AAP supremo was issued a notice by the Election Commission on the matter following a complaint by the BJP. In response to a second notice, Kejriwal submitted his reply.

Saini said, "Haryana supplies clean water to Delhi through the Yamuna but the Delhi government is polluting it due to mismanagement." When the same water reaches Faridabad, its quality is significantly compromised, raising the risk of serious health issues, he alleged.

"In Faridabad, Kejriwal wants to commit mass genocide. I challenge Kejriwal to drink the water of Yamuna ji in Wazirabad," Saini later said in a post on X in Hindi.

"I had taken a sip of water from Yamuna ji in Palla village near Sonipat (on Wednesday). But by the time the water reaches Wazirabad in Delhi, the water of Yamuna ji turns completely poisonous," he further said.

Most sewage treatment plants in Delhi are out of order. Sewage water from Delhi is discharged directly into the Yamuna, he alleged.

"I challenge Kejriwal to drink the water of Yamuna ji in Wazirabad. The water that is going from Delhi to Faridabad in Haryana is absolutely poisonous. We (Haryana authorities) know how much effort is required to clean that water," Saini said in the post.

The BJP leader further said, "Kejriwal's job is to lie, create chaos and then turn away from accountability and run away." "This time, the people of Delhi will not spare the deceitful Kejriwal. Sensing defeat, Kejriwal is in a state of panic and is hellbent on defaming the people of Haryana. His frustration shows that despite poisonous politics, he is losing the elections," the Haryana chief minister said.

During his interaction with reporters, Saini further criticised Kejriwal for "failing to deliver" on promises such as improving schools and providing clean water and accused him of deceptive politics.

The people of Delhi will close the "shop of lies" on February 5, he asserted.

Saini had on Thursday asked Kejriwal to take Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with him and drink the Yamuna's water near Delhi's Rajghat.

On Wednesday, Saini drank the Yamuna's water and hit out at AAP, saying there was no poison in the water coming from his state to the national capital.

Trashing the allegations levelled by the the Atishi-led Delhi government and Kejriwal, Haryana has maintained that it was supplying clean water to the national capital.

Elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held on February 5, and the votes counted on February 8.