In a startling revelation, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Friday accused Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini of hatching a “conspiracy” to “influence” and force half of Delhi’s population to thirst due to the “poisonous” Yamuna water to defame his party ahead of the Assembly polls on February 5 by sending highly-polluted waters to the national Capital. In his six-page written reply addressed to the chief election commissioner (CEC), AAP chief raised serious allegations against Saini and said the Haryana Chief Minister orchestrated a ‘conspiracy’ to influence the Delhi assembly election. He demanded that a criminal case should be filed against Saini regarding the ‘poisonous’ Yamuna issue.
In the response to the Commission’s second notice, Kejriwal clarified that his earlier statements, which referenced the Yamuna being “poisoned,” were made in the context of the rising ammonia levels in the water and were not intended to suggest any malicious intent outside of this environmental crisis.
Warning that water could be used as a weapon to win elections if the EC fails to act, he said he was shocked that the poll body did not pass any order for the Haryana Chief Minister but chose to “hound” him.
“Whatever illegal punishment you may wish to impose on me under the instruction of the BJP is a small price to pay for it, and I welcome it with open arms,” he added. Accompanied by Delhi and Punjab chief ministers Atishi and Bhagwant Mann, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor went to the EC’s office and submitted his reply personally. The AAP leaders also carried three bottles of ammonia-mixed water for the election commissioners to drive home their point. Kejriwal also claimed that the water being supplied from Haryana to Delhi has high levels of ammonia. AAP national convenor alleged that the ammonia levels started increasing very sharply from 15 Jan onwards (around 3.2 ppm on 15 Jan) and reached 7 ppm a few days later.
Kejriwal alleged that Delhi CM Atishi contacted Saini to resolve the crises, but despite several attempts, the issues remained unresolved. “The chief minister of Delhi called up the chief minister of Haryana in the last week of December and requested him to either take steps to reduce ammonia or provide additional water to dilute it. Though CM Haryana assured me that he would take the necessary steps, however, he did not. Subsequently, CM Delhi again called him several times. After a few calls, Chief Minister of Haryana stopped taking CM Delhi’s calls,” as said in the letter.
“There was a deliberate conspiracy on the part of Haryana CM, who happens to be from BJP, to influence Delhi elections by sending highly polluted waters to Delhi. He knew very well that this would create artificial water scarcity in Delhi, whose blame would lie on the AAP government in Delhi. This would have rendered almost half of Delhi without water and would have created huge public misery for almost 10 million people of Delhi who would have gone without water,” he said in the letter.
The AAP supremo also accused the CEC of “complete silence and inaction” over “blatant violations” of the Model Code of Conduct allegedly by BJP leaders in Delhi. Kejriwal also questioned the “baffling alacrity” of the CEC to act against him, even though he was “merely” raising an issue of “very high public importance” and had averted a huge public crisis in Delhi. “Equally baffling is the CEC’s refusal to direct Haryana to stop polluting Delhi’s waters,” he said.
“If the CEC continues ignoring the widespread practice of purchase of votes with cash and goods by the BJP, you will end up normalising this corrupt practice as well,” he said, while claiming that evidence in the form of videos and people’s statements were not acknowledged.
India is known worldwide as the bedrock of democracy, he said, adding, “The CEC, with its clear act of omission and negligence of corrupt practices by the BJP, looks set to tarnish this image of India globally.”
“If no action is taken against the Haryana government and the BJP leaders involved in corrupt practices it will be amply clear to everyone that the Chief Election Commissioner keeps the interest of the ruling party over public interest. Unfortunately, I can’t be expected to be silent on this and tow this line out of fear or expectations of favour. My only concern is the health and safety of the people of Delhi and I will fight for the protection of our democratic principles,” he added.
Before visiting the Election Commission’s office, Kejriwal told media that the language of second notice hints that the poll body has already decided their action. He alleged that the poll body is “shooting the messenger” by targeting the AAP for raising its voice. The Yamuna water issue has emerged as a crucial political matter ahead of the Delhi assembly election, with Kejriwal pointing fingers at the BJP-led Haryana government for deliberately contaminating the water.
