Referred to high ammonia level in Yamuna water for Delhi; Haryana CM at fault: Kejriwal to EC

New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI) AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal submitted his reply to the Election Commission (EC) on Friday regarding his allegation that the BJP government in Haryana has mixed “poison” in the Yamuna water supplied to Delhi, saying his remarks were in context of the “unprecedented high levels of ammonia in the raw water”.

In his six-page written reply addressed to the chief election commissioner (CEC), Kejriwal also accused Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini of hatching a “conspiracy” to “influence” the February 5 Delhi Assembly polls by sending highly-polluted waters to the national capital.

Accompanied by Delhi and Punjab chief ministers Atishi and Bhagwant Mann, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor submitted his reply to EC officials over the poll panel’s notice to him in the matter. The AAP leaders also carried three bottles of ammonia-mixed water for the election commissioners to drive home their point.

In his reply, Kejriwal said the “poison” found mixed with the Yamuna water was “ammonia”.

He referred to Delhi Jal Board (DJB) officials for details like evidence of mixing poison and its methodology.

Kejriwal told reporters on January 27 that the “BJP government in Haryana has mixed poison in the water supplied to Delhi through the Yamuna. Thanks to DJB engineers, who caught it and stopped the water, it did not enter Delhi. If that water got mixed with drinking water, a mass genocide would have happened”.

He had further accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of mixing “poison” in the water supplied to Delhi to trigger a chaos, so that the AAP could be blamed for people dying.

The AAP supremo was issued a notice by the EC over the matter on a complaint from the BJP. In response to a second notice, Kejriwal submitted his reply, saying “categorically and explicitly” that his alleged statement was made in reference to the “unprecedented and dangerously-high” levels of ammonia in the raw water being supplied to Delhi from Haryana.

“Any other inference of my statement is incorrect,” he stated.

Explaining the chronology of events leading to his statement, Kejriwal said the ammonia levels in the water started rising from around 3.2 ppm (parts per million) on January 15 and reached 7 ppm around January 26-27.

The chief ministers of Delhi and Punjab had raised the matter with Saini but he did not do anything, despite promising action to control the ammonia levels or discharge more water to dilute it, he said.

Kejriwal alleged a “deliberate conspiracy” on the part of Saini to “influence” the Delhi election by sending highly-polluted water to the capital.

“It is crystal clear from the sequence of events that it is the Haryana chief minister who is at fault,” the AAP supremo charged.

“A criminal case should be registered against him for attempting to cause serious miseries to the people of India’s capital. If the CEC does not take action against the Haryana government, who have been perpetrators of this above incident, you will be normalising such ghastly actions in electoral politics,” he said.

Kejriwal also questioned the “baffling alacrity” of the CEC to act against him, even though he was “merely” raising an issue of “very high public importance” and had averted a huge public crisis in Delhi.

“Equally baffling is the CEC’s refusal to direct Haryana to stop polluting Delhi’s waters,” he said.

The AAP supremo also accused the CEC of “complete silence and inaction” over “blatant violations” of the Model Code of Conduct allegedly by BJP leaders in Delhi.

“If the CEC continues ignoring the widespread practice of purchase of votes with cash and goods by the BJP, you will end up normalising this corrupt practice as well,” he said, while claiming that evidence in the form of videos and people’s statements were not acknowledged.

India is known worldwide as the bedrock of democracy, he said, adding, “The CEC, with its clear act of omission and negligence of corrupt practices by the BJP, looks set to tarnish this image of India globally.”

If no action is taken against the Haryana government and the BJP leaders involved in “corrupt practices”, it will be amply clear to everyone that the CEC keeps the interest of the ruling party over public interest, Kejriwal said.

He asserted that his only concern is the health and safety of the people of Delhi and he will fight to protect democratic principles.

“Whatever illegal punishment you may wish to impose on me under the instruction of the BJP is a small price to pay for it, and I welcome it with open arms,” he said.

Earlier, the former Delhi chief minister told reporters that the language of the EC notice to him hinted that the poll panel had already decided about the “punishment” to be given to him.