Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday accused Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini of “pretending” to drink Yamuna water and then spitting it back into the river. Kejriwal alleged that Saini’s actions were a mockery, especially after the latter’s performance of Achman (sipping holy river water) at the Yamuna bank in Haryana. This comment follows Kejriwal’s earlier controversial statement claiming that the BJP-led Haryana government is “mixing poison” in the Yamuna water supplied to Delhi, a remark that triggered a heated exchange.
In a post on X, Kejriwal shared a video of Saini performing the ritual, and accused the Haryana CM of deceiving the public about the water quality. “Haryana Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini pretended to drink Yamuna water… and then spat the same water back into the Yamuna. When I said that Yamuna water could be dangerous due to ammonia contamination, they threatened to file an FIR against me,” Kejriwal wrote.
The Delhi CM further alleged that the Haryana government wants Delhi residents to drink the same “poisonous water” that even the people of Haryana cannot consume. “I will never let this happen,” Kejriwal added.
In response, Saini posted his own video on X, where he claimed to have performed the ritual of drinking Yamuna water at the Haryana-Delhi border without any hesitation or reluctance. The Haryana CM also took a dig at Kejriwal’s “poison” remark, calling it a reflection of “narrow thinking.””
We consider rivers as our mother, worship them, but there are some people in this country who say that poison has been mixed in the rivers. These people have their own ideologies. They do not care about our culture and values. Some even said that there was no Ram here,” Saini remarked.
The controversy also led to political repercussions, with Haryana’s Revenue Minister Vipul Goel announcing that the state government would file a case against Kejriwal for his remarks about the Yamuna water.
Amidst the ongoing Delhi assembly elections, the Election Commission (EC) took cognizance of Kejriwal’s statement, following a complaint from the BJP. In his reply to the EC, Kejriwal defended his statement, saying the raw water recently supplied to Delhi had been “highly contaminated and extremely poisonous” for public health.
Kejriwal clarified that his comments were made in the context of an “urgent public health crisis” concerning the water quality in Delhi. He emphasized that his remarks were part of his duty to alert the public about the severe toxicity and contamination of raw water received from Haryana, which is ruled by the BJP.
