AAP Rout In Delhi Polls: Yamuna Poisoning Statement Cost Kejriwal Dear, Says Khattar

Manohar Lal Khattar said AAP would have won more seats in assembly polls if Arvind Kejriwal had not levelled allegations of Yamuna river being poisoned.

Bhopal:The Aam Aadmi Party would have won 5-7 seats more in the Delhi assembly polls if its supremo Arvind Kejriwal had not levelled allegations of the Yamuna river being poisoned, Union minister and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Sunday. The BJP ended the Aam Aadmi Party's reign in Delhi by winning 48 seats in the 70-member assembly there. Among the prominent losers was Kejriwal from New Delhi constituency.

Reply to a media query on the issue here, Khattar said water disputes exist among several states but Kejriwal has the habit of blaming others if he is unable to fulfil his commitment. Kejriwal had once made the lofty promise of not contesting the 2025 assembly polls if he failed to clean up the Yamuna, the Union Minister for Housing, Urban Affairs and Power pointed out.

"It was a challenging statement from his side. When he failed to clean up the Yamuna, he said its water from the Haryana side was being poisoned. This statement has cost him very dear. If he had not made such a statement, his party would have won 5-7 seats more," Khattar asserted.

"More than 40 per cent of Delhi's residents are from Haryana. This statement insulted people of Haryana and Delhi. Water for Delhi comes from Palla in Haryana. Water quality at Palla was found up to the mark by Delhi Jal Board and Delhi Pollution Control Board," he informed. The water quality changes after Wazirabad and subsequently at ISBT, ITO, Khattar claimed, adding the quality is very poor when the river enters Haryana again at Okhla.

"After Kejriwal's statement, Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini carried out 'aachman' (ritualistic sipping of water) at Yamuna on the border with Delhi," the Union minister said. He said after the Election Commission of India issued notice to Kejriwal over his statement and sought proof, the latter backtracked and claimed he was referring to high levels of ammonia.

Now the court is hearing a case filed by someone pertaining to Kejriwal's "poisoning" statement, the former Haryana CM said.