Photo Source: ANI
Yamuna water row: Kejriwal hits back at CM Saini, accuses him of "spitting back" water
New Delhi, January 29, 2025 (ANI): As the row over Yamuna water continues to intensify, Aam Admi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal alleged that Haryana Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini, who took a sip of water, was actually "pretending" and later "spat back the water".
This comes after Kejriwal on Tuesday, alleged that the Haryana government had "poisoned" the water supplied to Delhi, with the intention of harming its residents.
Chief Minister Saini visited the banks of the Yamuna River in Delhi's Palla village today, where he took a sip of water to counter accusations made by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
"Haryana Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini pretended to drink Yamuna water... and then spat the same water back into the Yamuna," Kejriwal said in a post on X, along with the video of CM Saini.
"When I said that Yamuna water could be dangerous for the lives of Delhiites due to ammonia contamination, they threatened to file an FIR against me. Theywant to make the people of Delhi drink the same poisonous water which they themselves cannot drink. I will never let this happen," his post added.https://x.com/ArvindKejriwal/status/1884595532904968584
Earlier, after taking a sip from Yamuna, 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.
"An unfortunate statement by Arvind Kejriwal was given to create fear in the minds of people for his political benefits," Saini told reporters.
He 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."
"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 stemmed 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..."
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. (ANI)