Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, bearing the brunt of criticism over his pre-poll allegation that Haryana is poisoning waters of the Yamuna, Wednesday responded to the Election Commission with data about pollution of the river that flows through the heart of Delhi.
In a 14-page letter, Mr Kejriwal cited the Delhi Jal Board which maintains that ammonia levels in the river have reached such levels that the water purification plants cannot perform at full capacity.
"The verifiable fact remains that Delhi, as a lower riparian state, depends on raw water supply from Haryana, an upper riparian state, for potable water," the letter read. "That Delhi receives raw water from Haryana which is being used for human consumption in Delhi. The raw water received from Haryana recently is highly contaminated and extremely poisonous for human health."
Days ahead of the assembly election in Delhi, Mr Kejriwal had claimed that the BJP was "mixing poison" in the city's water supply in an attempt to "create chaos... hoping the blame will fall" on his party's administration.
"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 and sent it here... it is only due to the vigilance of our Delhi Jal Board engineers that this water was stopped," he had said.
Mr Kejriwal's claim had drawn fire from the BJP as well as the Election Commission, which demanded that he back up his claim with evidence and warned that such comments that can cause rifts between the people and a breach of peace, are a punishable offence.
But Mr Kejriwal said in his letter that "Facts prove no violation of any law or any code has been committed".
"I beseech and most humbly request Election Commission to intervene on the major issue of availability of safe water and pass appropriate directions to the State of Haryana so that safe quantity of water is made available to the citizens of Delhi," he added.
The BJP and the Congress have challenged Mr Kejriwal over his poisoning of Yamuna claims. While the BJP accused him of lying, Congress's Rahul Gandhi Wednesday said, "Five years ago, Arvind Kejriwal said that he would take a bath in the Yamuna River and drink the water of the Yamuna River. It has been five years, and to date, Kejriwal ji has not drunk the water of Yamuna".
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, meanwhile, shared a 57-second video, where he is seen at the bank of Yamuna, splashing water and taking a sip.
"I drank the water of the holy Yamuna on the Haryana border. (Delhi Chief Minister) Atishiji did not come. She must be making up a new lie (but) lies have no legs. That is why the lies of AAP-da (the BJP's new pejorative for the AAP) are not working," he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
