The Election Commission of India on Thursday rejected the explanation given by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on his poisoning of Yamuna water remarks, saying he has not given any factual evidence to support his claim and gave him another opportunity for filing a specific and pointed response by 11 am on Friday.

Notably on Wednesday, Kejriwal, in his response to the poll panel’s notice to him over his “poisoning” of Yamuna water remarks in the wake of complaints from the BJP and Congress, said he had only highlighted the severity of the toxic river water received from Haryana in the public interest.

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In its fresh notice to the AAP national convener, the ECI said it finds that his response was entirely silent on his public and widely circulated statement of “poising of river Yamuna by the Haryana government with intention to cause genocide in Delhi, equating it with an act of war between Nations and the fact that same was not only timely detected by the engineers of Delhi Jal Board but also stopped poisonous water at the boarder of Delhi”.

Stating that no factual evidence has been provided by Kejriwal to support his statement, it said, “Instead of clarifying factual and legal matrix of your statement, you have chosen to justify your statement under question on high ammonia content in the river Yamuna in Delhi.

The Commission said it agrees with the contention that availability of sufficient and clean water is a governance issue, and that all concerned governments at all times should engage in securing this for all the people.

The poll panel said it has prima facie found Kejriwal’s allegations about poisoning of river Yamuna as promoting disharmony and enmity between different groups, and overall public disorder and unrest even by the most sober interpretation.

The words of your statement, the comparative emphasis laid on them and the manner of expressions at a delicate time of peak of campaign period of elections do pose a serious risk of endangering peace and harmony between states and peoples, it said.

“You are once again afforded another opportunity for filing specific and pointed reply to your statement and without mixing it with an ongoing, long standing, legally governed issue of increased levels of Ammonia. Your reply should reach the Commission by 11 am on January 31 (Friday), failing which the Commission shall take appropriate decision in the matter without further reference to you,” the ECI said.