New Delhi: AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday criticised the Election Commission’s decision to dismiss his Yamuna ‘poison’ plea for lack of evidence, claiming that CEC Rajiv Kumar is favouring the BJP as he is looking for a post-retirement job.
Addressing a media conference, the former Delhi Chief Minister raised doubts over the rejection of his plea by the ECI, indirectly blaming the poll panel for favouring rivals, the BJP and the Congress.
CEC Rajiv Kumar is scheduled to retire on February 28 after a three-year stint in the election body.
“The ECI is indulging in politics and ignoring the glaring violation of the model election code. It can’t see the distribution of bedsheets and money taking place. We have complained about the violations, but CEC Rajiv Kumar is not acting as he is looking for a post-retirement job,” he said.
“I want to tell Rajiv Kumar ji that history will never forgive him for the damage he has caused to an institution like the Election Commission,” Kejriwal said.
His outburst against the CEC came within hours of the poll panel expressing dissatisfaction over Kejriwal’s reply on the Yamuna ‘poison’ issue, saying that “no factual, legal matrix with evidence has been provided to support his statement”.
Speaking to media persons, Kejriwal admitted that the level of ammonia in the river water has now come down to 3 ppm from 7 ppm till a few days back, but alleged politics was being done over the issue over the past few weeks under which the ammonia level was raised by Haryana.
He said he is sending four bottles of the “contaminated water” to BJP and Congress leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah, Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini (all BJP) and Rahul Gandhi.
“These water bottles have chlorinated water from the river which had high levels of ammonia and is unsafe. I challenge the leaders from other parties to drink this,” he said, calling CM Saini’s recent visit to the Yamuna bank in Delhi and drinking its water a “gimmick”.
He said the water flowing into Delhi from Haryana had high levels of ammonia – up to 7 ppm – which could have caused irreversible damage to organs if it had been used in the DJB treatment plant.
“Letting raw water with 8 ppm ammonia get chlorinated at Delhi Jal Board treatment plants would have converted it into poison,” he said, adding that the four bottles containing samples of this type of water with high ammonia with chlorine are being sent to BJP and Congress leaders.
The AAP national Convenor said Chief Minister Atishi had called her Haryana counterpart Saini several times over the past few weeks to request him to check the high ammonia level in Yamuna water but he made hollow promises and later refused to take her calls.
Refusing to be cowed down by threats of rival leaders to file cases against him or put him in jail over the Yamuna ‘poison’ issue, Kejriwal said: “I will not let poisoned water flow into Delhi taps. I am not afraid of going to jail.”
Safe drinking water and cleaning of Yamuna are key issues on which the ruling AAP is facing heat from rivals BJP and Congress ahead of the February 5 Assembly election, whose result will be declared on February 8.
Kejriwal’s Yamuna ‘poison’ claims appear to be an attempt to shift the blame for Delhi’s water woes to Haryana and rival BJP which, in turn, has blamed the AAP for its failure to deliver on its promises of clean Yamuna and 24X7 safe water supply in the city.
(IANS)
