New Delhi: A Haryana court has summoned Arvind Kejriwal over his controversial comment that the state government was “poisoning” the Yamuna river to disrupt Delhi’s water supply.
Kejriwal has been directed to appear before the court on February 17. If he fails to do so, action will be taken against him as per the rule of law, stated the notice issued to the former Delhi chief minister.
Kejriwal has been asked to state the reason behind his allegation and furnish a report corroborating his claim that that the BJP-led Haryana government was poisoning the water of Yamuna.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has also asked Kejriwal to provide proof to back up his claim, asking him to submit his response by 8 pm on Wednesday.
Amid the escalating row over his allegations ahead of the February 5 Delhi polls, Kejriwal told India Today that the Yamuna water in Delhi contained a hazardous level of ammonia at 7 parts per million (PPM).
Asserting that 7 PPM of ammonia was equivalent to “poison”, Kejriwal reiterated his charge that the Haryana government was putting Delhiites lives at risk by contaminating the river.
He dared Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to drink Yamuna water in public.
It was Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini who took a sip from the Yamuna, as seen in a video shared widely on social media. But Kejriwal hit back at Saini, saying that it was all a pretention as he spat back the water into the river.
“Haryana Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini pretended to drink Yamuna water… and then spat the same water back into the Yamuna. When I said that Yamuna water could be dangerous for the lives of Delhiites due to ammonia contamination, they threatened to file an FIR 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,” Kejriwal tweeted.
हरियाणा के मुख्यमंत्री नायब सिंह सैनी जी ने यमुना का पानी पीने का ढोंग किया… और फिर वही पानी वापस यमुना में थूक दिया।
जब मैंने कहा कि अमोनिया की मिलावट के कारण यमुना का पानी दिल्लीवालों की जान के लिए ख़तरा हो सकता है, तो इन्होंने मुझ पर FIR करने की धमकी दी।
जिस ज़हरीले पानी… pic.twitter.com/xQEVAu9bWh
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 29, 2025