New Delhi: Ther is no dearth of political drama in the national capital these days.
Amid the Arvind Kejriwal versus Haryana controversy over the former Delhi chief minister’s ‘poisoned Yamuna water’ comment, it was Swati Maliwal who took centrestage on Thursday.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP was detained by Delhi Police after she dumped garbage outside Kejriwal’s residence.
The reason? Maliwal was protesting over cleanliness in Delhi.
“The whole city has turned into a garbage bin… I came here to have a conversation with Arvind Kejriwal. I would say to him ‘sudhar jao warna janata sudhaar degi’. I am neither afraid of his goons nor his police,” Maliwal told reporters while she was taken into a police van.
Maliwal, who has been at odds with the AAP leadership since May last year when she alleged mistreatment at Kejriwal’s residence by his personal secretary, and her supporters collected waste from the streets of Vikaspuri, loaded it into three mini trucks and transported it to Kejriwal’s house on Feroz Shah Road, reported PTI.
On arriving at the former CM’s house, Maliwal began throwing garbage onto the ground before she was confronted by female police officers and removed from the spot.
#WATCH | Delhi: Police detained Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal after she dumped garbage outside AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal’s residence in protest over cleanliness pic.twitter.com/UJyh56pXWe
— ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2025
There were a large number of women, with placards reading ‘Muskuraiye, AAP Delhi Mein Hain’, in front of Kejriwal’s 5, Feroz Shah Road residence who shouted slogans as Maliwal reached the spot.
Maliwal earlier shared a video on X, showing herself and others collecting garbage from Vikaspuri.
“There have been heaps of garbage on the roads in Vikaspuri for years. People are very angry. They are going to collect all this garbage and dump it at Kejriwal’s house. The condition of the entire Delhi has deteriorated. The filth and stink that Delhiites face daily will be faced by Kejriwal ji today … The public is coming, Kejriwal ji, don’t be afraid,” she wrote along with the video.
Security was tightened outside Kejriwal’s residence following the protest.
“We have installed barricades and deployed additional personnel to maintain law and order. No one will be allowed to breach the law,” said a senior police official.
