GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 27th Jan. As Delhi heads into next week’s Assembly elections, the political war of words between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to escalate, with former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal making serious allegations against the saffron party regarding the city’s water supply.
In a statement to reporters on Monday, Kejriwal accused the BJP of deliberately poisoning the water supplied to Delhi from the Yamuna River. The AAP leader claimed that the Haryana government, controlled by the BJP, had added a harmful substance to the river upstream, causing contamination of Delhi’s drinking water.
“The people of Delhi get drinking water from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh… but the Haryana government has mixed poison in the water coming to Delhi from the Yamuna,” Kejriwal said. He further stated that only the vigilance of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) engineers prevented the poisoned water from entering the city.
Kejriwal’s remarks centered on high ammonia levels in the Yamuna, which the AAP has pointed to as a significant challenge to the city’s water supply. With Delhi requiring over 3,000 million litres of water per day, the usual supply of approximately 2,000 MLD has been further strained by the contamination, the party claims.
In response, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini strongly denied the allegations, calling them baseless. “It is their nature and thinking to accuse and run away,” Saini remarked at a public event. BJP leader and Haryana Labour Minister Anil Vij also ridiculed Kejriwal’s claim, saying, “Arvind Kejriwal is a factory of lies. He couldn’t even clean the river in Delhi, and now he’s accusing us.”
The war of words intensified as Kejriwal’s accusations came amid significant election promises related to cleaning the Yamuna and ensuring clean drinking water. The AAP’s manifesto for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections highlights the challenges in fulfilling these promises, with Kejriwal admitting last week that he had failed to deliver on several of his pledges. Despite this, he vowed to make the Yamuna water drinkable if his party is voted back into power.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah joined the BJP’s attacks on Kejriwal, recalling his earlier promises to cleanse the Yamuna and comparing them to unrealistic goals. “He promised to purify the Yamuna like the Thames. The people of Delhi are waiting for your world-famous dip in the Yamuna,” Shah remarked during a rally at the Maha Kumbh.
The controversy has caught the attention of the Election Commission, with AAP leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Atishi and Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann, submitting a formal complaint. The poll body has asked Haryana to submit a detailed report on the allegations by January 28.
As the debate over Delhi’s water quality rages on, the political heat surrounding it is unlikely to cool before the elections, with both parties using the issue to appeal to voters in the crucial poll battle ahead.
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