Modi, Rahul slam Kejriwal; Haryana court summons AAP chief

New Delhi: Amid an escalating row over AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal’s claim of Haryana poisoning the Yamuna water, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday criticised the former Delhi chief minister, alleging that he has failed to fulfil his promise to clean the river in the last decade.

Later in the day, Kejriwal responded to the Election Commission (EC) notice over his claim that the Haryana government was “mixing poison” in Yamuna and said raw water received from the state recently has been “highly contaminated and extremely poisonous” for human health.

A court in Haryana’s Sonipat on Wednesday summoned Kejriwal on February 17 on a complaint over his claim that the BJP-ruled state was mixing “poison in the Yamuna” river. The court of Sonipat Chief Judicial Magistrate Neha Goyal issued a notice to Kejriwal in the matter. Earlier in the day, Haryana’s Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Vipul Goel said the state government will file a case against Kejriwal over his remark.

Polling for the 70-member Delhi Assembly will take place on February 5, and counting of votes will be undertaken on February 8.

In his reply to the EC, the former Delhi chief minister said his remarks were made in the context of an “urgent public health crisis” over drinking water quality in the city. In the 14-page reply, he stated that his comments were made as a public duty to highlight the “severe toxicity and contamination” of raw water received from Haryana. Kejriwal also said the ammonia level in the raw water was so “extreme” that water treatment plants in Delhi were unable to process it down to safe and permissible limits for human consumption.

Addressing a BJP rally in east Delhi, Modi termed the AAP supremo’s allegation “disgusting” and said “AAP-da people” have turned desperate fearing their defeat in the Delhi polls. Saying that he has been drinking the Yamuna water for 11 years, the prime minister asked people, “Can anyone imagine that the BJP government in Haryana was trying to poison me?”

Kejriwal’s claims are an insult not just to Haryana but to all Indians, he said.

“It is an insult to Indian culture, an insult to our character.” He further said, “A former CM has made malicious allegations against the people of Haryana. AAP-da people have become desperate due to the fear of defeat. Is Haryana different from Delhi? Don’t they have children and relatives in Delhi? Will they mix poison for their own people?”

Modi said not only the people of Delhi but also himself, diplomats and judges staying in the national capital drink the same water that comes from Haryana. “Can anyone think that to kill Modi, the Haryana BJP has mixed poison in water? Was there a conspiracy to kill judges in Delhi? What are you talking about? It is in the character of Indians to forgive mistakes but neither Delhi nor India forgives sins committed with ill intention.”

Further attacking AAP, he said during the last two elections, the party sought votes on the promise of cleaning the Yamuna and now says that the issue does not yield votes. “This is fraud and shamelessness. They want to make people struggle for water and want Purvanchalis to do Chhathi Maiyya’s puja surrounded by garbage.”

Addressing a rally in Delhi, Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also attacked Kejriwal, saying he reneged on his promise of bathing in and drinking Yamuna water and challenged him to drink from the river. “He (Kejriwal) ran a corrupt government. Modi ji lies in his speeches and just like him, Kejriwal does the same. Five years ago, he (Kejriwal) had stated that he would take a bath in the Yamuna and drink its water. Five years have gone by and he did not do so. You have to drink dirty water but Kejriwal lives in ‘sheesh mahal’ which is worth crores, and he lies to you.”

Hitting back, the AAP supremo accused the Congress of indirectly aiding the BJP. Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini condemned Kejriwal for spreading fear among people for political gains, calling his statement “unfortunate and irresponsible”. Saini also drank Yamuna’s water to demonstrate its purity when he visited the river near Dahisara village at the Delhi-Haryana border.

Later, Kejriwal accused Saini of “pretending” to drink Yamuna water and then spitting some of it back into the river, saying they wanted Delhi people to consume the same “poisonous” water. On social media platform X, Kejriwal shared a video of Saini performing Achman (sipping holy river water) at Yamuna bank in Haryana.

“Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini pretended to drink Yamuna water... and then spat the same water back into the Yamuna. When I said that Yamuna water could be dangerous for the lives of Delhiites

due to ammonia contamination then they threatened to lodge an FIR against

me. They want to make the people of Delhi drink the same poisonous water which they themselves cannot drink. I will never let this happen,” Kejriwal said in the post.