Inciting riots, inciting hatred, falsely charging someone of a crime with the intention of harming them, and conducting wilful and malicious acts that offend citizens’ religious sentiments are among the accusations.
Delhi, New Delhi:
A day before Delhi’s elections, former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was charged by the police with claiming that Haryana is contaminating the Yamuna’s waters. The Aam Aadmi Party chief is accused in the Haryana case under several Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions.
Inciting riots, inciting hatred, falsely charging someone of a crime with the intention of harming them, and conducting wilful and malicious acts that offend citizens’ religious sentiments are among the accusations.
A major political dispute has been sparked by Mr. Kejriwal’s comments made last week in the lead-up to the election, and the issue has even found its way to the Election Commission.
The Congress, AAP, and BJP have all challenged one another to drink the water, and Mr. Kejriwal has even taken the issue to the Election Commission, which has drawn harsh criticism.
“We have four bottles… will send to each one of them… please drink and show us,” Mr. Kejriwal wrote in answer to the poll body’s request for concrete proof of his allegation against Haryana. Then we’ll believe.
Mr. Kejriwal had referenced a letter from the Delhi Jal Board in his initial response to the Commission, stating that the Yamuna’s ammonia levels had risen to dangerous levels, 700 times the usual level, and that it was “extremely poisonous for human health.”
The former Delhi Chief Minister was “completely 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,'” the Commission said, acknowledging the ammonia levels.
Additionally, the Commission compared his remarks to hostile remarks intended to incite animosity towards the neighbouring state.
Nayab Singh Saini, the chief minister of Haryana, issued a video showing himself drinking Yamuna water while vehemently disputing the accusations. According to AAP, he spat it out.
Rahul Gandhi of the Congress claimed that Mr. Kejriwal had broken his pledge to clean up the Yamuna in five years. During a public meeting, he continued, “I would ask him to drink it (Yamuna water), and then we will meet in the hospital.”
Then, PM Modi intervened, saying that the Haryana BJP administration would not contaminate the water he drank.
Additionally, he claimed that the AAP chief was attempting to divert attention away from his party’s governance shortcomings by making such strange remarks.