Kejriwal, EC lock horns over Yamuna pollution

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday accused Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar of “destroying the credibility” of the national poll panel, hours after the agency issued the former Delhi chief minister a sharply worded letter asking him for “factual evidence” of his allegation that Haryana was poisoning the Yamuna’s waters, as the tussle over pollution in the river that has become a mainstay ahead of the February 5 elections spiralled to new heights.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) issued Kejriwal a fresh notice on Thursday morning a day after the AAP chief responded to the poll panel’s initial missive in the controversy, asking him not to “mix issues” and instead answer specific questions it laid down about his allegations.

The panel also said that Kejriwal’s claims were “promoting disharmony and enmity between different groups, and overall public disorder and unrest, even by the most sober interpretation”.

Asked about the fresh letter at a press briefing on Thursday afternoon, Kejriwal took a swipe at CEC Kumar.

“I want to tell ECI, with all due respect, they don’t notice money being distributed openly in Delhi. They cannot see blankets being distributed in the city... ECI is doing politics because Rajiv Kumar wants a postretirement job. I want to say to Rajiv Kumar that history will not forgive you. Rajiv Kumar has made a mess of the poll body,” Kejriwal said in a press conference.

During the conference, Kejriwal, accompanied by chief minister Atishi and party MP Sanjay Singh, also displayed four bottles of water purportedly laden with ammonia collected from the Yamuna. The bottles, were labelled with the names of Union home minister Amit Shah, Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi, Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini and Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Delhi chief Virendra Sachdeva, and would be sent to them, Kejriwal said. A team of AAP leaders led by Singh later visited the BJP headquarters to “deliver” the bottle to Shah, but were stopped by police.

ECI officials aware of the matter said it is “unlikely” the CEC will respond to Kejriwal’s comments.

Kejriwal on January 27 asserted that Haryana was poisoning the Yamuna with ammonia, hindering water production in the national capital and threatening millions of people with “irreversible organ damage”. He doubled down on these claims during his press conference on Thursday.

The allegations have snowballed into the major flashpoint of an acerbic election campaign, with leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister, and the Congress hitting out at Kejriwal.

ECI waded into the controversy on January 28, writing to Kejriwal and asking him to furnish proof of his claims, which they said had the potential to inflame tensions ahead of the elections. Kejriwal responded to the panel on January 29, arguing that his allegations did not violate election codes and were meant to address a public health crisis.

However, on Thursday, ECI issued a fresh missive and said his response did not “not specify any evidence” of the river being poisoned.

The commission pointed out that instead of clarifying the “factual and legal matrix” of his statement, Kejriwal chose to justify it by referencing the high ammonia content in the river, a matter being addressed separately.

The commission posed five questions: “What kind of poison was mixed by the state government of Haryana in Yamuna?” The supporting evidence about the quantity, nature, and manner of detecting the poison; The location where it was detected; Which DJB engineers detected it, and how and where; What methodology those engineers employed in stopping poisonous water from entering NCT of Delhi. ”

The letter, issued by ECI secretary BP Patra, gave Kejriwal a deadline of 11am on January 31 to furnish his responses, failing which the commission would take an “appropriate decision… without further reference” to the AAP chief.

Asked about the letter during a press meet in the afternoon, Kejriwal accused ECI of ignoring poll “violations” by the BJP.

“No one has damaged the election commission the way Rajiv Kumar has done. If he wants, he can contest elections from any of the Delhi assembly seats,” he said.

“I will not let the people of Delhi drink poisonous water till I am alive. I know they will arrest me in two days but I am not afraid,” he said.

He once again asserted that ammonia levels in the Yamuna were well beyond safe standards because of Haryana.

Senior AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia weighed in as well.

“If the AAP raises its voice, you will file a case against it. I am willing to go to jail for the safety of the people of Delhi but will not compromise with the lives of the people. The BJP and Congress leaders, who are creating drama about becoming the leaders of the people of Delhi should try drinking this poisonous water mixed with 7ppm ammonia. We are sending bottles to your homes. Drink this water in front of the entire media; otherwise, apologise,” Sisodia added.

On Thursday evening, a clutch of AAP leaders led by the party’s Rajya Sabha lawmaker Sanjay Singh, tried to march towards the BJP’s headquarters on DDU Marg and “make Union home minister Shah drink the Yamuna’s water”.

“We want to take this water to the BJP office and let Shah, Sachdeva, Saini and Rahul Gandhi, who is supporting them, drink it,” he said.

However, police stopped them, at which point they left the bottles outside the BJP HQ.

Delhi BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj called Kejriwal an “anarchist”.

“Kejriwal very well knows that he is de facto chief minister for barely eiguht days now and his era as public representative will end very soon on February 8, so he is all out to blame everyone to cover up his defeat,” she said.