New Delhi – Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, accusing him of engaging in politics by sending him a notice over his claims that the Haryana government was “mixing poison” into the Yamuna River. Kejriwal’s comments came after the Election Commission (EC) expressed dissatisfaction with his earlier response regarding the matter.
At a press conference in Delhi, Kejriwal accused Rajiv Kumar of damaging the credibility of the Election Commission and suggested that Kumar might be looking for a post-retirement position. “No one has done as much harm to the Election Commission as Rajiv Kumar has. If he wants, he can contest elections from any Delhi Assembly seat,” Kejriwal said.
The row stems from Kejriwal’s recent statements claiming that the water from Haryana, which feeds into Delhi’s Yamuna River, is “highly contaminated” and “poisonous,” posing a serious health threat to people in the national capital. He added that the BJP and Congress leadership were playing with the lives of Delhi residents by allowing such water to be distributed.
Kejriwal took the opportunity to challenge political leaders, stating that AAP MP Sanjay Singh would deliver a bottle of water with 7 PPM (parts per million) ammonia content to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini, and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi. “If they think this water is not poisonous, they should try drinking it,” Kejriwal said.
The controversy deepened after the Election Commission issued a fresh notice to Kejriwal, demanding clarification on his earlier response to the Commission’s inquiry. The EC expressed that Kejriwal’s 14-page reply, submitted on Wednesday, was “entirely silent” on the core issue of contamination and gave him until 11 AM on January 31 to provide further clarification. Failure to comply would result in appropriate action, the EC warned.
Kejriwal, unyielding in his stance, declared that he would not rest until the people of Delhi were no longer forced to drink the toxic water. “I know they will arrest me in two days, but I am not afraid,” he asserted. The Delhi Chief Minister also criticized Haryana CM Nayab Saini for failing to drink water from the contaminated Yamuna during a recent visit to Palla, claiming that Saini had taken a sip but then discarded it.
Earlier, Kejriwal had claimed that the raw water supplied by Haryana was “extremely poisonous” and that allowing it to be consumed would lead to severe health consequences, including fatalities.
The political storm shows no signs of abating, as the clash between Kejriwal and the Election Commission adds another layer of complexity to the ongoing dispute over water contamination in Delhi.