Haryana CM Saini takes sip of Yamuna water to counter Kejriwal's 'Poisonous' claims
NEW DELHI: Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini visited the banks of the Yamuna River in Delhi's Palla village on Wednesday, where he took a sip of water to counter accusations made by former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Kejriwal had alleged that the Haryana government had "poisoned" the water supplied to Delhi, with the intention of causing harm to its residents. Saini termed Kejriwal's statement as "unfortunate" and accused him of making the remarks to "create fear in the minds of people" for political gain.
Speaking to reporters, he said, "An unfortunate statement by Arvind Kejriwal was given to create fear in the minds of people for his political benefits."
Saini further stressed, "Today, I have come here to the banks of River Yamuna and took a sip of water from Yamuna. He said that the BJP Goverment of Haryana has poisoned the Yamuna River. He spoke about mass genocide," reports ANI.
"The water resource authority took samples from here and no poison was found in the water," he added, alleging that Arvind Kejriwal has "lied all his life."
The controversy originated from Kejriwal's remarks on Monday, where he accused the Haryana government of "poisoning" the Yamuna water supplied to Delhi, claiming it could have caused mass fatalities. Kejriwal said, "If this water would have entered Delhi only to be mixed with the drinking water, many people would have died in Delhi. It would have caused mass genocide."
Kejriwal's accusations have sparked a backlash from the BJP ahead of the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections, scheduled for February 5, 2025.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also slammed Kejriwal's remarks, saying, "People of 'aapda' say that people of Haryana mix poison in water sent to Delhi.
This is not just an insult to Haryana but to all Indians. Ours is a country where providing drinking water is considered a good deed...Such fear of losing that they are saying anything. I am sure Delhi will teach a lesson to people who say such things. In aapda walon ki llutiya Yamuna mein hi doobegi..."
Kejriwal's response
Arvind Kejriwal swiftly responded, alleging that Nayab Singh Saini had only pretended to drink the Yamuna water but actually spat it out. In a post on X, the AAP leader claimed that the Haryana government wanted Delhi residents to consume the same contaminated water that its own leaders avoided. He vowed not to let this happen.
The Delhi Assembly elections will take place on February 5, with the counting of votes scheduled for February 8. A total of 699 candidates are contesting for 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly. The Congress party, which held power in Delhi for 15 years, has faced major setbacks in the past two elections, while AAP has secured overwhelming victories in 2015 and 2020.
