Arvind Kejriwal Claps Back at CEC Rajiv Kumar Over Yamuna Poisoning Remark

Rajiv Kumar Over Yamuna Poisoning Remark: Kejriwal, head of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India, accusing the poll agency of being "made a mess" by the Chief Election Commissioner "doing politics" to serve his own ends.

"I want to say with respect, they (ECI) can’t see money being distributed openly in Delhi. They can not see blankets being distributed in the city…. ECI is doing politics because Rajiv Kumar wants a job post-retirement. I want to say to Rajiv Kumar that history will not forgive you. Rajiv Kumar has made a mess of the poll body," the former Delhi chief minister said in a press conference.

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Kejriwal said this shortly after the ECI expressed dissatisfaction with his response to its notice about Kejriwal's claim that "the Haryana government is mixing poison" in the Yamuna.

The letter from the poll panel called out the fact that while Kejriwal had responded, his reply did not address the main issue of his statement concerning the alleged poisoning of the Yamuna river.

Kejriwal had stated during the campaign that this was "an act of war between nations" and that engineers at the Delhi Jal Board reportedly timely detected such an act and intervened to stop the poisonous water at the Delhi border.

Kejriwal, in replying to the notice, lambasted the ECI for its tone. He also challenged BJP and Congress leaders to "drink the Yamuna water" to prove him wrong.

"This is 7 PPM ammonia water, with chlorine mixed in. BJP and Congress have joined hands, putting Delhiites’ health at risk. Sanjay Singh will deliver these bottles to the BJP headquarters for Amit Shah, Virendra Sachdeva, Nayab Singh Saini, and also one for Rahul Gandhi. If they have the courage, they should drink this water in a press conference and show us,” Kejriwal said.

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"I will not let people of Delhi drink poisonous water till I am alive," he added.

The controversy stemmed from Kejriwal's remarks on Monday, in which he accused the Haryana government of "poisoning" Yamuna water supplied to Delhi with the intent of trigger mass fatalities. Kejriwal said, "If this water would have entered Delhi only to be mixed with the drinking water, many people would have died in Delhi. It would have caused mass genocide."

Delhi Chief Minister Atishi has also accused Haryana of "poisoning" and "disrupting water supply" into Delhi whereby, as a "desperate measure", Haryana hopes to win the Assembly elections by 'influencing public opinion in their favour.'

The elections for the Delhi Assembly are scheduled for February 5, and counting will occur on February 8.

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