New Delhi:
The Congress on Tuesday waded into a spat between the AAP and BJP – that the latter, through its Haryana government, had tried to put “poison” in the Yamuna and so contaminate Delhi’s water supply.
A Congress delegation met the Election Commission this afternoon to complain against both, demanding action the AAP if the claims are proven false and against the BJP if true.
This was after the AAP’s top leaders, including party boss Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, filed complaints of their own over ammonia levels in the Yamuna.
Mr Mann and other AAP leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Atishi also met poll body officials last night, after which the EC sought a “detailed report” from the Haryana government.
On Monday Mr Kejriwal declared the BJP had done “something that may never have been done in history”. “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…”
He claimed only vigilance by the Delhi Jal Board saved the city, and slammed the “attempt to create chaos… hoping blame will fall on AAP”. The DJB, however, did not play ball; it called the claims “false”.
READ | Row Over Kejriwal’s “Haryana Mixing Poison In Yamuna” Claim
The BJP too hit out; Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini said, “It is their nature and thinking to accuse and run away…” and Labour Minister Anil Vij called Mr Kejriwal “a factory of lies”.
Sources later said the Haryana government may take legal action.
The AAP and Mr Kejriwal, though, remain undaunted in making their “poisoned water” allegations. This morning the ruling party accused the BJP of “water terrorism”.
READ | Delhi Govt Repeats Water Poisoning Charge Against Haryana
“Ammonia levels continue to be six times above normal in the Yamuna… at the point it enters Delhi from Haryana. Such levels are extremely toxic… This water cannot be treated and supplied to the people of Delhi. Otherwise, their lives will be at risk,” the Chief Minister said.
“This is not an act of negligence; it is an act of water terrorism to deliberately impact the conduct of free and fair elections in Delhi,” she wrote in a letter to the Election Commission.
Mr Saini responded again, thundering, “For these blatantly false and disgusting statements, Arvind Kejriwal should immediately apologise to the people of Haryana and Delhi…”
The Congress has now taken up arms but, surprisingly, it isn’t (overtly) against the BJP. Instead, it seems to be attacking the AAP, a fellow INDIA opposition bloc member and an (on paper) ally.
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit, who is contesting the New Delhi Assembly seat against Mr Kejriwal (and Parvesh Verma of the BJP), said he was surprised by the lack of Haryana Police action against the AAP leader.
The debate around the cleanliness and potability of Yamuna water is of particular significance now, since these were assurances made by AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal before the 2020 Delhi election.
Neither promise, though, has been fulfilled, and Mr Kejriwal is aware of this issue.
READ | Arvind Kejriwal On 3 Delhi Promises He “Could Not Fulfil”
Last week he admitted to Delhi voters he had failed to ensure Yamuna water is both clean and drinkable, but insisted this will become a reality if his AAP is voted to a third consecutive term.
“I am truthful to my promises. Either I fulfil them, or I admit I promised but couldn’t do it. I could not fulfill three promises – cleaning the Yamuna, providing clean drinking water, and making Delhi’s roads of European standards,” Mr Kejriwal said at a rally in Delhi’s Laxmi Bai Nagar.
He repeated that admission – a tactic seen as trying to take the sting out of attacks by the BJP on this topic – this morning as he released another section of his party’s pre-poll manifesto.
Unfortunately for the AAP, Mr Kejriwal’s acknowledgement has not stopped the BJP’s attacks. Union Home Minister Amit Shah took a jab as he took a dip in the Ganga today during Maha Kumbh.
READ | “Take That World-Famous Dip”: Amit Shah’s Yamuna Dare To Kejriwal
“He [Mr Kejriwal] promised he would purify River Yamuna in seven years and modify it just like London’s River Thames,” Mr Shah said at a rally.
“He even said he would take a dip in the Yamuna in front of Delhiites. Arvind Kejriwal, the people of Delhi are waiting for your world-famous dip in the Yamuna. If not in Yamuna, he can go to the Mahakumbh and take a dip over there to get rid of his sins,” Mr Shah said.
According to a Delhi Pollution Control Committee report from October 2023, multiple projects to clean the river are running behind schedule. The report filed with the National Green Tribunal drew particular attention to delays by the Delhi Jal Board and the Delhi Development Authority.
This is not the first time a BJP leader has dared Mr Kejriwal to take a dip in the polluted stretch. Earlier, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accused him of “turning the holy Yamuna into a dirty drain”.