Almost three days after the alleged assault on Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP (Member of Parliament), Swati Maliwal, no formal statement has been made by the party. Today (May 16), party chief Arvind Kejriwal, who is out on bail, addressed a joint press conference at Lucknow with Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav. During the press conference, a media person asked Kejriwal about his reaction or action on Swati Maliwal’s case, to which he was seen shifting the mic towards Akhilesh Yadav.
Yadav, on the other hand, said, “There are other issues that are more important than this…”
#WATCH | Lucknow, UP: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal refuses to answer when asked about AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal’s assault case.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav says “There are other issues that are more important than this…” pic.twitter.com/0FDkRiFhrs
— ANI (@ANI) May 16, 2024
Diverting the conversation from the topic, he stated that people from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can never be trusted. As the media kept on demanding a response on Maliwal’s case, he too shifted the mic towards Sanjay Singh.
Singh said, “The entire country was in pain after seeing what happened in Manipur, but PM Modi was silent on the issue. Prajwal Revanna raped thousands of women, but PM Modi was asking for votes for Prajwal Revanna. When our wrestlers were protesting at Jantar Mantar, Swati Maliwal, who was the DCW chief, was beaten up by the Police…”
#WATCH | Lucknow, UP: On AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal’s assault case, AAP MP Sanjay Singh says “The entire country was in pain after seeing what happened in Manipur but PM Modi was silent on the issue. Prajwal Revanna raped thousands of women but PM Modi was asking for votes… pic.twitter.com/nQu73jcqNQ
— ANI (@ANI) May 16, 2024
He added, “PM Modi remained silent on these issues. AAP is our family, and has given a clear statement. BJP and PM Modi should answer all these issues that I mentioned…Politics should not be done on Swati Maliwal’s issue…”
On May 13, Maliwal alleged that a member of Arvind Kejriwal’s personal staff “assaulted” her at the chief minister’s official residence. However, she did not file a formal complaint. A day after this, Sanjay Singh, in a press conference, confirmed the allegations and said Kejriwal’s Private Secretary Bibhav Kumar “misbehaved” with Maliwal, and the AAP supremo will take strict action in the matter.
“Yesterday, Maliwal had gone to meet Arvind Kejriwal at his residence. While she was waiting to meet him in the drawing room, Bibhav Kumar misbehaved with her. This is a highly condemnable incident. Kejriwal has taken cognisance of it and will take strict action in the incident,” Singh said.
This led to a massive controversy in the national capital, with the BJP demanding an immediate FIR.
Targeting the AAP chief on the issue, the Delhi BJP leaders asserted that either Kejriwal should sack his assistant, or he himself should quit as Chief Minister. BJP leaders and workers, including activists of its Mahila Morcha, staged a protest on Wednesday near the Delhi chief minister’s residence, demanding a probe into the incident.
The Vice-President of BJP’s Delhi unit, Kapil Mishra, took to the social media platform X to post a photo of Kejriwal and other party leaders along with Bibhav Kumar.
लखनऊ एयरपोर्ट की कल रात की ये फोटो
काली शर्ट में बिभव हैं जिसने स्वाति मालीवाल को मारा
साथ में संजय सिंह जिन्होंने बताया कि बिभव ने बहुत ग़लत किया , केजरीवाल नाराज़ है
तीसरे ख़ुद केजरीवाल जिन पर स्वाति को पिटवाने का आरोप pic.twitter.com/cVszpEFagb
— Kapil Mishra (Modi Ka Pariwar) (@KapilMishra_IND) May 16, 2024
Responding to Mishra’s post, BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, in a video message, said it was now clear that Arvind Kejriwal was behind the attack on AAP’s woman MP Swati Maliwal as the party had not registered an FIR against Bibhav even after 72 hours, though senior leader Sanjay Singh admitted to the assault on Maliwal.
He said as Bibhav was still roaming with the AAP top brass, it was clear that he attacked Maliwal at Kejriwal’s behest.
72 hours
No FIR on Bibhav Kumar instead Kejriwal is protecting him ! Roaming around with him..It is clear- attack on Swati Maliwal was done at behest of Kejriwal himself
Sheesh Mahal is Apradh Mahal & just like Draupadi cheerharan – a woman Rajya Sabha MP was subjected to… pic.twitter.com/1ig50VqHbT
— Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) May 16, 2024
He added that no action was being taken as Kejriwal was behind the assault on Maliwal and it was not the first time that the AAP was involved in such incidents.
Referring to the public statements made by former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Maliwal’s former husband Naveen Jaihind and AAP leader Nitin Tyagi, he said, “Now, she is being pressured to keep silent or change her story as is evident from statements of Naveen Jaihind and Nitin Tyagi. Hence she hasn’t approached the police yet.”
In a video message on the social media platform, Facebook, Jaihind claimed danger to Maliwal’s life, saying “anything can happen to her”.
BJP national spokesperson Shazia Ilmi, who was formerly with the Aam Aadmi Party, expressed concern over Maliwal’s safety and questioned Kejriwal if she was being intimidated and pressured into reaching “some kind of a compromise”.
