Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday drank water from the Yamuna river near the Delhi border to counter the allegations of former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal that the state “poisoned” its waters ahead of the Delhi assembly elections on Feb 5.
Harayana is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is in power in Delhi.
“I drank the water of the holy Yamuna on the border of Haryana without any hesitation. Kejriwal has blatantly lied. The AAP convener should immediately tender an apology,” the Haryana chief minister wrote on X.
Mr Kejriwal, though, was not convinced. He claimed that the Haryana chief minister “pretended to drink Yamuna water... and then spat the same water back into the Yamuna”, and accused him of wanting Delhi people to drink “poisonous” water.
Mr Kejriwal wrote on X: “When I said that the Yamuna water could be dangerous for the lives of Delhiites due to ammonia contamination, they threatened to file an FIR (police report) against me.
“They want to make the people of Delhi drink the same poisonous water, which they themselves cannot drink. I will never let this happen,”
The controversy originated from Mr Kejriwal’s remarks on Monday, when he accused the Haryana government of “poisoning” the Yamuna water supplied to Delhi, claiming it could have caused mass fatalities.
Mr Kejriwal said: “If this water would have entered Delhi only to be mixed with the drinking water, many people would have died in Delhi. It would have caused mass genocide.”
Mr Saini said that as soon as the issue cropped up, teams from the World Health Organisation as well as the Central Pollution Control Board and other agencies collected samples.
“All the samples were found to be in order. No traces of poisonous substances were found,” said Mr Saini.
He then accused Mr Kejriwal of running away from his own responsibilities, claiming the AAP leader was looking for an escape route under the garb of misleading statements.
“He has spent 10 years telling lies. The way he has insulted the people of Haryana by giving such statements is not acceptable. As far as the water is concerned, it is all safe,” Mr Saini said.
The Congress party too slammed Mr Kejriwal, with leader Rahul Gandhi saying: “Five years ago, Arvind Kejriwal said that he would take a bath in the Yamuna River and drink the water of the Yamuna River. It has been five years, and to date, Kejriwal ji has not drunk the water of Yamuna”.
