Arvind Kejriwal's First Comments On Swati Maliwal Assault Row

In his first direct reaction to the alleged assault on his party's Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, which has kicked up a political firestorm, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said he expects that a fair investigation will be conducted and justice will be done. The Aam Aadmi Party chief stressed, however, that there are two versions of the event.

Ms Maliwal has alleged that she was assaulted by Mr Kejriwal's personal assistant, Bibhav Kumar, at the chief minister's residence on May 13. The AAP leader claimed Mr Kumar had kicked her in the chest, stomach and pelvic area and had brutally "dragged her and pulled her shirt up".

Mr Kumar has been arrested and was sent to the custody of the Delhi Police till Thursday. 

In an interview with news agency PTI, the AAP chief said the alleged assault is "sub-judice" and him commenting on it could affect the proceedings. "But I expect there will be a fair investigation. Justice should be served. There are two versions of the event. Police should investigate both versions fairly and justice should be done," he said. 

Hitting back strongly at the chief minister, Ms Maliwal said it was ironic that the person who had "assassinated her character" and called her a "BJP agent" was now calling for a free and fair investigation. 

"After unleashing the entire army of leaders and volunteers at me, calling me a BJP agent, assassinating my character, leaking edited videos, victim shaming me, roaming around with the accused, letting him re enter the crime scene and tamper evidences and protesting in favour of the accused, the Chief Minister, in whose drawing room I was beaten up, has finally said that he wants free and fair investigation in the matter," the MP said in a post on X. 

"Irony died a thousand deaths. I don't buy this one bit," she added.

Political Slugfest

The alleged assault on Ms Maliwal has prompted attacks on the AAP and Mr Kejriwal from the BJP. The party's president, JP Nadda, had questioned Mr Kejriwal's silence on the issue and said that it shows his "double character and dual standards".

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had also waded into the row on Tuesday and said, "I would have expected that, at least for the sake of propriety, my chief minister would have come clean, rather than being evasive and dodgy. His deafening silence speaks volumes of his stance on safety of women."

This had prompted a strong response from the Aam Aadmi Party, which said Mr Saxena's statement proves that Ms Maliwal "is working for the BJP". 

"With the elections on, the BJP is bringing a new conspiracy daily, from liquor scam to Swati Maliwal to foreign funding. The BJP is losing badly, so they are trying to revive their prospects by using the Swati Maliwal issue," the party said.