New Delhi:

“Drink if you dare” – Arvind Kejriwal’s dramatic response to the Election Commission’s demand for proof to back claims the BJP’s Haryana government attempted “genocide” by mixing “poison” in Yamuna water supplied to Delhi. “We have four bottles… will send to each one of them… please drink and show us. Then we will believe,” he said, pointing to a row of plastic bottles filled, he said, with Yamuna water.

Hours earlier the EC directed Mr Kejriwal submit “factual evidence” by 11 am Friday.

It also sought answers to five questions, including what kind of ‘poison’ was used, who detected its presence, and how and where it was found. In its letter, the poll body dismissed last night’s submission – a social media post in which Mr Kejriwal cited Delhi Jal Board data that said ammonia levels in the Yamuna had reached critical levels, and that it was “extremely poisonous for human health”.

The EC acknowledged receipt of claims of a “sharp increase in ammonia levels in the water”, but indicated it would not concern itself with the AAP’s allegations of “deliberate act of water terrorism”. This issue, it said, would be left to the “competence and discretion of governments”.

Instead, the poll body rebuked the former Delhi Chief Minister for being “entirely silent… on your widely circulated… statement of ‘poisoning of Yamuna by Government of Haryana with intention to cause genocide in Delhi’ (and) equating it with an act of war between two nations”.

“… no factual and legal matrix, with evidence, has been provided to support your statement.”

Prima facie these comments, the EC also said, had been found as “promoting disharmony and enmity between different groups, and overall public disorder and unrest…”

That such allegations have been made “at a delicate time of peak of campaign (for next week’s Delhi Assembly election)”, the EC continued, “prima facie, pose a serious risk of endangering peace and harmony between states”. The poll panel then gave time to file a “specific and pointed reply”.

The row over ‘poison’ in the Yamuna erupted Monday after Mr Kejriwal accused the BJP of having contaminated the water supply to “create chaos… hoping the blame will fall” on his party.

READ | Row Over Kejriwal’s “Haryana Mixing Poison In Yamuna Water” Claim

His remarks were amplified Chief Minister Atishi, who accused the BJP of “water terrorism” and wrote to Lieutenant Governor, VK Saxena, to red-flag dangerous levels of ammonia – 700 times the limit.

READ | In “Yamuna Poison” Row, Atishi’s “Nadir Shah” Jab At Lt Governor

The BJP hit back hard, first with Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini counter-accusing Mr Kejriwal of making “blatantly false and disgusting statements” and demanding he apologise.

Then Prime Minister Narendra Modi waded in; at an election rally in Delhi Wednesday evening he thundered that his party wouldn’t dare ‘poison’ the same water he drinks every day, and claimed Mr Kejriwal was trying to divert attention from failed promises to clean the Yamuna.

READ | “Can Haryana BJP Govt Poison Water I Drink?” PM Blasts AAP

And, last evening, in a dramatic video shared online, Mr Saini drank a handful of water directly from the river at the point it flows past a Delhi village. The video was quickly questioned by the AAP, which claimed the Chief Minister had, in fact, spat out the water instead of drinking it.

The BJP’s Haryana unit countered, accusing Mr Kejriwal of having shared an “edited” video.

READ | Kejriwal Says Haryana Chief Minister “Spat Out” Water, BJP Responds

The Congress has also jumped in the fray, with senior party leader Rahul Gandhi reminding Mr Kejriwal of his pre-2020 election promise to drink, one day, from the Yamuna to signify its purity.

A case has also been filed against the AAP leader in a Haryana court.

The Delhi Jal Board, meanwhile, has also rubbished Mr Kejriwal’s allegations about ‘poison’ in the Yamuna. However, the water body chief’s statement was questioned by Atishi, who suggested he may have been coerced by the BJP, through the Lt Governor’s office, into saying it.

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New Delhi:

The AAP and BJP continue to bicker as the clock ticks down to next week’s Delhi Assembly election, with ex-Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal now accusing the latter of “mixing poison” in the city’s water supply, in an attempt to “create chaos… hoping the blame will fall” on his party’s administration.

Speaking to reporters Monday, he said the BJP had done “something that may never have been done in history”. He claimed the saffron party – in power in neighbouring Haryana – had added a poisonous substance to the Yamuna river that flows through that state and into the national capital.

“The people of Delhi get drinking water from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh… but the Haryana government has mixed poison in the water coming to Delhi from the Yamuna and sent it here… it is only due to the vigilance of our Delhi Jal Board engineers that this water was stopped.”

“It (the allegedly poisoned water) was stopped at the Delhi border… we did not allow it to enter the city. We have seen such things in wars but today, what the BJP did by mixing poison in Delhi’s water supply, is an attempt to create chaos in Delhi, hoping blame will fall on the AAP.”

Delhi: AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal says, “In the upcoming elections in Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has done something that may never have been done in history. The people of Delhi get drinking water from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The Haryana government,… pic.twitter.com/vswQA87M7h

— IANS (@ians_india) January 27, 2025

According to reports, the “poison” Mr Kejriwal was referring to is ammonia.

High ammonia levels in the Yamuna has been a problem as the Delhi government scrambles to ensure round-the-clock, and clean, water supply for the city’s residents; by some accounts the capital needs over 3,000 million litres of water per day, whereas the usual supply is only about 2,000 MLD.

The shortfall has been exacerbated by high ammonia levels, the AAP has claimed.

BJP Slams “Baseless” Charges

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has denied Mr Kejriwal’s claim. “It is their nature and thinking to accuse and run away…” he said at an event in Chandigarh.

Chandigarh: Regarding Aam Aadmi Party’s allegations that Haryana is supplying toxic water to Delhi, Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini says, “It is their nature and thinking to accuse and run away…” pic.twitter.com/JO3L8juyvk

— IANS (@ians_india) January 27, 2025

Mr Saini’s rebuttal was backed, more forcefully, by Labour Minister Anil Vij. “Arvind Kejriwal is a factory of lies… take journalists and experts to the place where the Yamuna enters Delhi and check the quality of water. Then check in Delhi… they will see the difference,” he said.

#WATCH | Chandigarh: Haryana Minister Anil Vij says, “Arvind Kejriwal is a factory of lies… Take all journalists and analysts to the place where Yamuna enters Delhi and check the quality of water, and then check the quality of water in Delhi. They will see the difference. Its… pic.twitter.com/bJiJtaPLXj

— ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2025

“It is not our job to check clean the river in Delhi… it was Kejriwal’s, which he couldn’t do.”

Election Commission Wants Report

Meanwhile, AAP leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Atishi and her Punjab counterpart, Bhagwant Mann, met the Election Commission earlier today to make this complaint. The poll body sought a detailed report from the Haryana government by noon tomorrow, i.e., January 28.

The debate around the cleanliness and potability of Yamuna water is of particular significance now, since these were assurances made by AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal before the 2020 Delhi election.

Neither promise, though, has been fulfilled, and Mr Kejriwal is aware of this issue.

READ | Arvind Kejriwal On 3 Delhi Promises He “Could Not Fulfil”

Last week he admitted to Delhi voters he had failed to ensure Yamuna water is both clean and drinkable, but insisted this will become a reality if his AAP is voted to a third consecutive term.

“I am truthful to my promises. Either I fulfil them or I admit I promised but couldn’t do it. I could not fulfill three promises – cleaning the Yamuna, providing clean drinking water, and making Delhi’s roads of European standards,” Mr Kejriwal said at a rally in Delhi’s Laxmi Bai Nagar.

He repeated that admission – a tactic seen as trying to take the sting out of attacks by the BJP on this topic – this morning as he released another section of his party’s pre-poll manifesto.

BJP Targets Kejriwal Over Yamuna

Unfortunately for the AAP, Mr Kejriwal’s acknowledgement has not stopped the BJP’s attacks. Union Home Minister Amit Shah took a jab as he took a dip in the Ganga today during Maha Kumbh.

READ | “Take That World-Famous Dip”: Amit Shah’s Yamuna Dare To Kejriwal

“He [Mr Kejriwal] promised he would purify River Yamuna in seven years and modify it just like London’s River Thames,” Mr Shah said at a rally.

#WATCH | #DelhiElections2025 | Union Home Minister Amit Shah says, “He promised he would purify the Yamuna River in 7 years and modify it just like London’s Thames River… He even said he would take a dip in the Yamuna in front of Delhiites. Arvind Kejriwal, the people of Delhi… pic.twitter.com/44rsVKJy5m

— ANI (@ANI) January 25, 2025

“He even said he would take a dip in the Yamuna in front of Delhiites. Arvind Kejriwal, the people of Delhi are waiting for your world-famous dip in the Yamuna. If not in Yamuna, he can go to the Mahakumbh and take a dip over there to get rid of his sins,” Mr Shah said.

According to a Delhi Pollution Control Committee report from October 2023, multiple projects to clean the river are running behind schedule. The report filed with the National Green Tribunal drew particular attention to delays by the Delhi Jal Board and the Delhi Development Authority.

This is not the first time a BJP leader has dared Mr Kejriwal to take a dip in the polluted stretch. Earlier, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accused him of “turning the holy Yamuna into a dirty drain”.

With input from agencies

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