New Delhi:
“Drink if you dare” – Arvind Kejriwal’s dramatic response to the Election Commission’s demand for proof to back claims the BJP’s Haryana government attempted “genocide” by mixing “poison” in Yamuna water supplied to Delhi. “We have four bottles… will send to each one of them… please drink and show us. Then we will believe,” he said, pointing to a row of plastic bottles filled, he said, with Yamuna water.
Hours earlier the EC directed Mr Kejriwal submit “factual evidence” by 11 am Friday.
It also sought answers to five questions, including what kind of ‘poison’ was used, who detected its presence, and how and where it was found. In its letter, the poll body dismissed last night’s submission – a social media post in which Mr Kejriwal cited Delhi Jal Board data that said ammonia levels in the Yamuna had reached critical levels, and that it was “extremely poisonous for human health”.
The EC acknowledged receipt of claims of a “sharp increase in ammonia levels in the water”, but indicated it would not concern itself with the AAP’s allegations of “deliberate act of water terrorism”. This issue, it said, would be left to the “competence and discretion of governments”.
Instead, the poll body rebuked the former Delhi Chief Minister for being “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”.
“… no factual and legal matrix, with evidence, has been provided to support your statement.”
Prima facie these comments, the EC also said, had been found as “promoting disharmony and enmity between different groups, and overall public disorder and unrest…”
That such allegations have been made “at a delicate time of peak of campaign (for next week’s Delhi Assembly election)”, the EC continued, “prima facie, pose a serious risk of endangering peace and harmony between states”. The poll panel then gave time to file a “specific and pointed reply”.
The row over ‘poison’ in the Yamuna erupted Monday after Mr Kejriwal accused the BJP of having contaminated the water supply to “create chaos… hoping the blame will fall” on his party.
READ | Row Over Kejriwal’s “Haryana Mixing Poison In Yamuna Water” Claim
His remarks were amplified Chief Minister Atishi, who accused the BJP of “water terrorism” and wrote to Lieutenant Governor, VK Saxena, to red-flag dangerous levels of ammonia – 700 times the limit.
READ | In “Yamuna Poison” Row, Atishi’s “Nadir Shah” Jab At Lt Governor
The BJP hit back hard, first with Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini counter-accusing Mr Kejriwal of making “blatantly false and disgusting statements” and demanding he apologise.
Then Prime Minister Narendra Modi waded in; at an election rally in Delhi Wednesday evening he thundered that his party wouldn’t dare ‘poison’ the same water he drinks every day, and claimed Mr Kejriwal was trying to divert attention from failed promises to clean the Yamuna.
READ | “Can Haryana BJP Govt Poison Water I Drink?” PM Blasts AAP
And, last evening, in a dramatic video shared online, Mr Saini drank a handful of water directly from the river at the point it flows past a Delhi village. The video was quickly questioned by the AAP, which claimed the Chief Minister had, in fact, spat out the water instead of drinking it.
The BJP’s Haryana unit countered, accusing Mr Kejriwal of having shared an “edited” video.
READ | Kejriwal Says Haryana Chief Minister “Spat Out” Water, BJP Responds
The Congress has also jumped in the fray, with senior party leader Rahul Gandhi reminding Mr Kejriwal of his pre-2020 election promise to drink, one day, from the Yamuna to signify its purity.
A case has also been filed against the AAP leader in a Haryana court.
The Delhi Jal Board, meanwhile, has also rubbished Mr Kejriwal’s allegations about ‘poison’ in the Yamuna. However, the water body chief’s statement was questioned by Atishi, who suggested he may have been coerced by the BJP, through the Lt Governor’s office, into saying it.
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