Arvind Kejriwal visited the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday and submitted his reply to the notice issued to him by the poll panel over his controversial ‘Yamuna water poisoning’ remark.
This is the second time that the AAP chief responded to the poll panel’s notice over the issue.
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In his reply to the ECI, Kejriwal reiterated that his comments were only intended to highlight the dangerous levels of ammonia in the raw water coming in the river from the neighbouring state which posed a serious health risk to people of the national capital.
Stressing that his remarks were in context of the spike in ammonia levels and were made with no other (ulterior) motive, the AAP chief clarified that his only concern is the health and safety of the people of Delhi.
Kejriwal’s submission to CEC Rajiv Kumar reads: “I categorically and explicitly again convey that the alleged statement was made in direct reference to the unprecedented and dangerously high levels of ammonia contamination in the raw water being supplied to Delhi from Haryana. Any other inference of my statement is incorrect.”
Reiterating his allegation against Haryana chief minister, the former Delhi chief minister demanded that a criminal case be filed against him for trying to cause miseries to the people living in the national capital.
He said the way the ammonia content is increasing in the water supplied to Delhi by Haryana since January 15 points to a conspiracy of the Haryana CM to influence the Delhi elections in favour of the BJP.
However, the AAP chief expressed his shock over that fact the CEC chose to hound him for his remark rather than passing orders directing the accused CM to stop polluting the water right before elections. Nevertheless, he welcomed whatever punishment is given to him under the alleged instructions of the BJP. In this context, he accused the CEC of condoning the corrupt practices of the BJP and thereby tarnishing the image of India globally.
Later, Kejriwal wrote in a post on social media platform X: “Many congratulations to the people of Delhi. Our struggle bore fruit. The poisonous water that was being sent to Delhi has now stopped.”
On the other hand, the poll panel shared on X that it gave a patient hearing to Kejriwal at a very short notice on Friday and received his reply.
The ECI further said that the ‘full commission’, without being swayed by personal insinuations and offensive strategy in play, decided to examine the reply in detail and take decisions on merit in this matter.