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Haryana Court Summons Kejriwal over “Poisoning Yamuna Water” Remark

Haryana Court Summons Kejriwal over “Poisoning Yamuna Water” Remark

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Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Jan 29: The Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court (CJM) in Sonipat has summoned the former Delhi chief minister and the Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal before it on February 17 on a complaint filed by the Haryana government for his charge against it of “poisoning” the water of the Yamuna river.

“If he does not appear before this court on next date of hearing, it is deemed that he has nothing to say in the matter and further proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with the law,” the court said.

The Haryana government on Wednesday filed the case under various sections of the Disaster Management Act against Mr Kejriwal over his remarks alleging the BJP government in Haryana has “poisoned” the Yamuna water to make political gains by shifting the blame on the AAP government in Delhi. The complainant, in the FIR, said Mr Kejriwal made a “false alarm” which led to panic among the people. Mr Kejriwal’s allegation has received flaks from both the BJP and the Congress.

“Arvind Kejriwal wilfully and deliberately made false alarms regarding poisoning of water by the government of Haryana in Yamuna River leading to panic in the area,” the FIR read. Earlier in the day the Haryana minister Vipul Goyal called Mr Kejriwal’s statement “irresponsible.” “Kejriwal has spread panic among the people of Haryana and Delhi. There is no truth in these allegations. The Haryana government will not spare him,” he said.

The AAP chief on Monday made an explosive claim saying that the BJP government in Haryana mixes “poison” in the Yamuna water it supplies to Delhi. The reference was to the high levels of ammonia – over 700 times the permissible limit. “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,” Mr Kejriwal had said.

This charge was picked up and repeated by other AAP leaders, including Chief Minister Atishi, who slammed the BJP for “water terrorism” and wrote to the Election Commission and Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena. In her letter, she demanded action by the poll body against BJP. In return, the poll body asked Mr Kejriwal to produce evidence of his claims by 8 pm on Wednesday.

According to the Election Commission, Mr Kejriwal’s claims were a “serious allegation” and could create strife between states. “The electors tend to believe whatever is being said in public by their leaders and in that sense, the statement, if not true, affect the campaign discourse. If true, this also has serious ramifications of creating enmity between regional groups, residents of neighbouring states, threat of law-and-order situation due to actual or perceived shortage of non-availability of water,” the Commission said.

The Delhi Jal Board, which Mr Kejriwal said stopped the alleged “poisonous” water coming to the national capital, rubbished the AAP leader’s claim. “These statements are factually incorrect, without any basis and misleading,” Delhi Jal Board Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shilpa Shinde said in a letter to the Chief Secretary. She also urged the Chief Secretary to bring the matter to the attention of Delhi Lieutenant Governor under the Transaction of Business Rules.

“The matter is being brought to your attention, given the fact that such false statements lead to fear-mongering amongst city residents and also adversely impact relations with the upper riparian state of Haryana. Given that this matter is likely to affect inter-state relations, these facts may be brought to the attention of Lieutenant Governor in terms of the Transaction of Business Rules,” the letter read.

Bothe the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Congress leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi have slammed Mr Kejriwal over his poisoning remark. While Mr Modi described Mr Kejriwal’s claim as “disgusting charge,” Mr Gandhi reminded the former Delhi chief minister about his “unfulfilled promise” to the people of Delhi of cleaning the Yamuna water.

“Five years ago, Arvind Kejriwal said he would take a bath in the Yamuna River and drink the water of the Yamuna river. It has been five years, and to date, Kejriwal ji has not drunk the water of Yamuna,” Mr Gandhi said on a day Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini released a video of himself drinking water straight from the highly polluted river.

“Earlier Arvind Kejriwal used to roam around in the city in a small car, climb electric poles…He said I would bring clean politics. After that, the biggest scam in Delhi–the liquor scam of crores of rupees, was done by his party, his people,” he said at a rally in Bawana. “You have to drink dirty water but Kejriwal -ji lives in a ‘Sheesh Mahal.’ He lives in a house worth crores of rupees. He drinks clean water and gives you false statements,” he had added.

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