Delhi BJP General Secretary Kamaljeet Sahrawat and Secretary Bansuri Swaraj today strongly condemned the misconduct committed by the associates of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with Swati Maliwal at the Chief Minister’s residence. The BJP also raised the question: if the MP of the Aam Aadmi Party, who is also a former Chairperson of the Delhi Women’s Commission, is not safe in the CM’s residence, then how can the women of Delhi be safe?
Praveen Shankar Kapoor, Delhi BJP media head, said while interacting with the media, “For the past seven to eight years, Swati Maliwal has been advocating for women to become fearless, but today, after complaining to the police, she is silent.” Citizens of Delhi appeal to the police to investigate this incident quickly so that millions of women in Delhi can gain courage.
Kamaljeet Sahrawat said that when Swati Maliwal, as the Chairperson of the Women’s Commission, kept claiming that she was continuously working to keep women safe in Delhi, it is quite shameful that she is scared when leaving the Women’s CM Office and walks outside on foot in a frightened state.
Kamaljeet added She (Swati Maliwal) said she called the PCR and she is currently untraceable, indicating the amount of pressure she is under.
Bansuri Swaraj said that raising a hand on a woman and misbehaving with her is quite embarrassing, and it is extremely sad that such an incident happened in an official residence.
She said that disregarding political ideology, the BJP, and especially as a woman worker of the party, I demand clarification from Kejriwal on this matter.
“If it is true that after getting instigated by Arvind Kejriwal, his OSD has beaten up and misbehaved with one of their party MP Swati Maliwal, in the presence of the Delhi CM, then the BJP strongly condemns this. It is shameful and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal needs to answer that if their party MP is not safe in his presence, then how will he protect the women of Delhi?” Bansuri Swaraj said.
Addressing a press conference, Bansuri Swaraj termed the alleged incident as “shameful” and said that the BJP strongly condemns this incident.
She further demanded an answer from Arvind Kejriwal and questioned how the Delhi CM would protect the women of Delhi.
“We want an answer from Arvind Kejriwal that it is his responsibility that one of your party workers, who was also the DCW Chief, if she is not safe in your presence. Then how will you protect the women of Delhi?” she added.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said that it is very clear that ‘Nari Shakti’ is not safe in AAP.
“If the former DCW chief and Rajya Sabha MP (Swati Maliwal) is not safe in the CM house, then the question is if she was beaten up by the family or party, PA or someone else…A few other people from the family seem to be joining politics in the time to come, so will this tension keep escalating when Arvind Kejriwal goes back to jail on 2nd June…It is clear that not everything is fine in AAP,” he said.
In a post from his official X handle on Monday, BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya claimed that the AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP and former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson, Swati Maliwal, alleged that she was assaulted by the personal assistant to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The incident allegedly went down at the office of the ruling party in the national capital.
However, neither the DCW chief, the AAP nor the police made any official statements on the alleged incident.
Further, no official complaint was registered in connection with the alleged incident at the time of filing this report.
“AAP RS MP and former DCW chief Swati Maliwal alleges that Delhi CM’s PA assaulted her. Call made from the Delhi CM’s house. Remember, Swati Maliwal had maintained radio silence on Kejriwal’s arrest. She was not even in India at that time and didn’t return for a long time,” Malviya posted from his X handle on Monday.
However, according to sources in Delhi Police, Maliwal made a PCR call twice from the CM’s residence, alleging that she was ‘assaulted’ by Kejriwal’s personal assistant, Bibhav Kumar.
Speaking to ANI, DCP (North) Manoj Meena said, “A PCR call was received by the Civil Lines police at 9.34 am in which a woman claimed to be assaulted at the CM’s residence. After some time, the MP Madam (Maliwal) visited the Civil Lines police station. However, she left soon after saying he would file a complaint later.”
Acting on Maliwal’s complaint over the phone, a Delhi Police team reached the CM’s residence but did not find her there, sources added.
Responding to the alleged incident, BJP spokesperson Shazia Ilmi labelled the CM’s CM’s PA as a ‘rogue’, adding that she was aware of ‘dynamics’ within AAP from her time as a member of the ruling party in the Capital.
“There is dirt within AAP and I know all about it as I was formerly with the party. I know how their inner party relations and internal dynamics work. The dynamics keep changing from time to time. This isn’t the first such incident, as, in 2018, former chief secretary Anshu Prakash was similarly assaulted at the CM’s residence. Kejriwal denied the claim at the time but two of his MLAs were charge-sheeted in the case,” Ilmi said in a personalised video on Monday.
Making further claims on the PA, the BJP leader said, “All that Bibhav knows is to misbehave with people or humiliate them. I was also a victim of his misconduct. He is rogue and anything is possible in this party.”