Amid the rift with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal has refuted claims that her party leadership was irked by her absence when Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the now-scrapped liquor policy case. As per the AAP leader, during the time the Delhi Chief Minister was in jail, she was in the US, where she went to attend a conference at Harvard and had to extend her stay due to her sister’s ill health.
She also asked if that was the reason for her assault, then why another AAP MP, Raghav Chadha, who was also out of the country during Kejriwal’s arrest, was treated differently. Maliwal has accused Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar of assaulting her on May 13 when she went to the chief minister’s residence.
“I went to the US to attend a Harvard conference and participated in various meet-and-greet events organised by AAP volunteers. At the time when Arvind Kejriwal was arrested, my sister who lives in the US got Covid. All my belongings were at her house and then I had to undergo quarantine. Even during that time, I was in touch with the party, I was tweeting and I was talking with AAP leaders. I did whatever I could do at that time. To say that I was not working for the party at that time is very unfortunate,” the former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson said during an interview with India Today TV.
Further, without naming Chadha, she said, “If that is the reason why I was beaten up, I really want to understand why is it that I have been given this kind of treatment and the other Rajya Sabha MP who was in London was given red carpet reception?”
Chadha was away from the country for a long duration recently when he underwent eye surgery in London. Earlier, Delhi minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said that Chadha had developed a serious eye ailment which could have blinded him.
When asked about AAP’s claim of her being in contact with BJP, Maliwal said, “This is very unfortunate and exactly what they threatened me. They said that the moment I file a complaint against Arvind Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar, this is what is going to happen”.
Earlier, in an exclusive conversation with CNN-News18, Maliwal expressed disappointment at the chief minister’s response.
“I am very hurt by how Kejriwal is behaving. I have been working with them since 2006. I was being beaten in his drawing room. I was screaming. Kejriwal was at home, but nobody came for my help,” she said in the interview on Saturday. “Then while the party came to attack me, they victim-shamed me, they did press conferences, Arvind ji was seen with him (Bibhav), they did protest for him, they made him a hero and me a villain. My friends in the party were threatened not to stand with me. And now finally the CM is saying there are two versions and an unbiased investigation should be done.”
Swati Maliwal ‘Assault’ Case
Meanwhile, Kejriwal’s close aide Kumar, who is accused of assaulting AAP MP Swati Maliwal, has moved a bail plea at a court, which has sought a response from Delhi Police.
Kumar’s counsels moved the plea after he was sent to four days of judicial custody on Friday, court sources said and added that the plea is listed for hearing on Monday.
Kumar had been in police custody after being arrested on May 18. His anticipatory bail plea filed last Saturday was observed as becoming “infructuous” by the court.
Delhi Police has claimed that Kumar was not cooperating in the investigation, was evasive in his replies and has not disclosed his mobile phone password.
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