A day before Delhi polls, Arvind Kejriwal faces FIR over his claims of Haryana govt poisoning Yamuna
New Delhi/IBNS: An FIR has been filed against former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal a day before Delhi votes to elect a new Assembly over his allegations that Haryana is poisoning the Yamuna River.
The case, filed in Haryana, accuses the Aam Aadmi Party supremo under various sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita including inciting riot, promotion of hatred, falsely accusing someone of crime with intent to cause harm and committing deliberate and malicious acts that insult the religious feelings of citizens.
In a run-up to the Delhi polls, Kejriwal had claimed that the BJP was "mixing poison" in the city's water supply to "create chaos... hoping the blame will fall" on his party's administration.
"The people of Delhi get drinking water from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh... but the Haryana government has mixed poison in the water coming to Delhi from the Yamuna and sent it here... it is only due to the vigilance of our Delhi Jal Board engineers that this water was stopped," he had said.
Following this, the Election Commission of India (ECI) asked Kejriwal to provide proof supporting his allegation following a BJP complaint.
The remarks triggered a huge political row provoking the BJP, AAP, and Congress daring each other to drink the water.
Kejriwal even extended the challenge to the Election Commission, drawing a strong reprimand.
In response to the poll body's demand for hard evidence of his claim against Haryana, Kejriwal had written back, "We have four bottles... will send to each one of them... please drink and show us. Then we will believe".
He also cited a letter from the Delhi Jal Board that maintains that ammonia levels in the Yamuna River have reached such levels that the water purification plants cannot perform at full capacity.
"The verifiable fact remains that Delhi, as a lower riparian state, depends on raw water supply from Haryana, an upper riparian state, for potable water," the letter read.
The Commission, while acknowledging the ammonia levels, said the former Delhi Chief Minister was "entirely silent... on your widely circulated... statement of 'poisoning of Yamuna by Government of Haryana with intention to cause genocide in Delhi' (and) equating it with an act of war between two nations".
Last week, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini took a sip of water "without hesitation" directly from the river at Delhi's Palla village.
"... I drank the water of the holy Yamuna on the Haryana border. (Delhi Chief Minister) Atishiji did not come. She must be making up a new lie (but) lies have no legs. That is why the lies of AAP-da (the BJP's new pejorative for the Aam Aadmi Party) are not working," he said on X.
कपूत केजरीवाल तेरी हर विफलता के जिम्मेदार हरियाणा के लोग नहीं हैं।हरियाणा के लोग तो पुण्य- कार्य करने वाले हैं ।
— Nayab Saini (@NayabSainiBJP) January 29, 2025
पिछले 10 वर्षों में केजरीवाल और उनकी आप-दा टीम ने जो झूठ और फरेब का पाप- कर्म किया है,माता यमुना के साथ विश्वास घात किया है,उन सभी पाप-कर्मों का अंतिम विसर्जन दिल्ली… pic.twitter.com/A41RYcO5JX
"The people of Haryana are not responsible for your failures, you ungrateful son Kejriwal. The people of Haryana are the ones who do pious deeds," he said slamming Kejriwal.
"On February 5, the people of Delhi are going to finally immerse themselves in all the sins of lies and deceit committed by Kejriwal and his AAP team in the last 10 years, in betraying Mother Yamuna," the Haryana CM claimed.