AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal has congratulated Delhi, announcing that the supply of toxic high-ammonia water had finally stopped after raising alarm over the issue. The AAP Supremo pointed out that BJP’s Haryana government deliberately sent polluted water to disrupt the national capital, warning that if the Election Commission failed to act, it would set a dangerous precedent where states could manipulate elections by cutting off essential supplies.
Arvind Kejriwal arrived at the Nirvachan Sadan this morning to submit his reply to the Election Commission’s second notice (in response to his previous reply dated 29.01.2025). Before that, he spoke to the media: “Had we not fought back, half the city would have been left without water today,” adding that he was prepared to face any consequences for ensuring clean water and protecting democracy.
AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal stated, “I want to congratulate the people of Delhi. Today, the struggle of the AAP’s Delhi government, and 2-2.5 crore people of Delhi has succeeded and delivered results. On January 26-27, the Haryana government was sending toxic water to Delhi with 7 PPM of ammonia. Today, that level has come down to 2.1 PPM. With 2.1 PPM, most of our water treatment plants can function properly, and people can get relatively clean water.”
The AAP Supremo continued, “It is because of our struggle that the ammonia level has decreased. This clearly proves that the BJP’s Haryana government was deliberately sending this contaminated water to Delhi to create chaos. If they had no control over it, how did the ammonia level in the water suddenly rise, and how did it drop just as suddenly after we raised our voices?”
Arvind Kejriwal mentioned, “The Election Commission sent me a notice, which I responded to. Then they sent a second notice. The language of the second notice suggests that they have already made up their minds about what action they want to take. But we will present the complete truth. To answer their notice point by point, we will go to the Election Commission. This is the response we are going to submit.”
Addressing the people of Delhi & country, the AAP Chief stated, “I want to tell not just the people of Delhi but the entire country that this issue is extremely serious. Since December, Delhi CM Atishi noticed that the water coming from the Yamuna was showing increased levels of ammonia. We did not want to politicize the issue of water, so throughout December and January, the Delhi and Punjab governments tried their best to resolve the matter through discussions.”
“In the last week of December, CM Atishi called Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini and informed him that the Yamuna water coming into Delhi had dangerously high ammonia levels. She requested him either to reduce the ammonia or release extra water to dilute its effect,” he added.
Arvind Kejriwal stated, “Haryana CM assured Delhi CM Atishi he would take care of it, but nothing happened. She called him twice more—each time, he gave assurances but took no action. After that, he stopped taking her calls. Delhi CM Atishi sought Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s help and then the Punjab Chief Minister also called the Haryana Chief Minister multiple times, but each time, he received nothing but empty assurances. The ammonia levels kept rising, and Delhi’s water treatment plants were on the verge of shutting down.”
The AAP Supremo pointed out that when Delhi government officials spoke to Haryana’s Chief Secretary and requested either the release of extra water or the reduction of ammonia, his response was shocking. He said that the decision had been taken at the “top political level” and that if Delhi wanted a solution, the Chief Minister of Delhi should speak directly with the Chief Minister of Haryana.
“That was the first moment we realized this was a political conspiracy designed to influence the elections. When Punjab’s irrigation secretary spoke to Haryana’s irrigation secretary, the response was the same: this decision had been taken at the level of the Haryana Chief Minister. This confirmed that it was a deliberate political conspiracy—to send toxic water into Delhi, shut down its water treatment plants, and leave half of Delhi struggling for drinking water,” he asserted.
Arvind Kejriwal said, “Despite this, the Delhi and Punjab Chief Ministers remained silent because they wanted to resolve the matter through dialogue. But by January 15, ammonia levels had reached 3.2 PPM, and then they kept rising day by day. By January 26, the levels had hit 7 PPM. That was when we realized that the BJP, through the Haryana Chief Minister, was playing a dangerous game.”
“On January 27, when we had no other option left, CM Atishi held a press conference and informed the entire country that toxic water was being deliberately sent to Delhi. This was either an attempt to create a massive health crisis, which could have been fatal, or an attempt to force the shutdown of our water treatment plants. Their goal was to manufacture an artificial water crisis in Delhi and then blame the AAP for it. On January 27, we raised an alarm over this and today the ammonia levels in the Yamuna water has come to 2.1 PPM, this proves that everything was in their hands,” he added.
Arvind Kejriwal affirmed, “The same BJP government that was intentionally increasing ammonia levels suddenly saw them decrease on their own. If we had not fought this battle and raised our voices, today, one crore people in Delhi would have been left without water. If CM Atishi, CM Bhagwant Mann, and I had not spoken out, the situation would have been dangerous.”
The AAP Supremo said, “The most alarming part is that CM Atishi and CM Bhagwant Mann wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner, urging him to take action and direct Haryana not to release ammonia-contaminated water. But the Election Commission took no action. They did not issue any order to the Haryana government to fix the water issue. Instead, they sent me a notice, questioning why action should not be taken against me for raising my voice.”
Arvind Kejriwal asserted that they prevented a massive water crisis in Delhi. He raised the alarm. Because of our struggle and the noise we made, the people of Delhi are now getting clean and sufficient water. “Water treatment plants in Delhi are operational again, yet I am the one being served with a notice. I am being threatened with punishment. I want to tell the Election Commission that the entire country is watching,” he said.
The AAP Chief stated, “In our view, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini has committed a crime by sending toxic water to Delhi and attempting to create an artificial water crisis. Instead of registering an FIR against him, taking action, or issuing orders to ensure clean water supply, the Election Commission is going after me, questioning why action should not be taken against Kejriwal.”
He further added that if the Election Commission does not act on this matter, it will set a dangerous precedent for the entire country. It would mean that any state receiving water from another state could face a water blockade during elections. If a state is holding elections, its water supply could be stopped, leading to chaos among the people and directly influencing the elections. What is happening here is extremely dangerous. The Election Commission is “shooting the messenger.”
Arvind Kejriwal pointed out that, in Delhi elections, jackets, sweaters, shawls, sarees—everything is being distributed openly, yet the Election Commission claims there is no evidence. On national television, people are openly admitting, “Yes, I received a shawl,” “Yes, I received ₹1,100,” “Yes, I got this, I got that.” But the Election Commission remains silent.
The AAP Head stated, “Historically, the Election Commission of India has been regarded as a model institution, an example for the world, known for conducting massive elections with credibility. However, if this Election Commission fails to take concrete action and does not show the courage to act against the BJP, India’s democracy will be discredited worldwide. The global reputation of India’s Election Commission will suffer.”
“I am being threatened—“We will take action against you, we will take action against you.” If standing up for Delhi’s people means I must face consequences, I welcome that punishment with open arms. I have no regrets,” he affirmed.
The Supremo shared that they are going to submit our letter to the Election Commission. “We have not sought an appointment; we believe that even if we do not get a meeting, we will leave our response at their office,” he said.
Arvind Kejriwal said, along with the letter, they are carrying three bottles of water—containing 7 PPM ammonia—to hand over to the Election Commission. “Our request is simple: if the Election Commission believes this water is safe, then they should hold a press conference and drink it in front of the entire nation. Whatever punishment they wish to impose on me, let them do it. But we are taking these three bottles of 7 PPM ammonia water to the Election Commission, and we challenge them to drink it before the country,” he concluded.
Arvind Kejriwal’s reply to Election Commission
I categorically and explicitly again convey that the alleged statement was made in direct reference to the unprecedented and dangerously high levels of ammonia contamination in the raw water being supplied to Delhi from Haryana. Any other inference of my statement is incorrect.
The chronology of the events that led to that statement also throws light on this fact –
a. After finding highly toxic water with high levels of ammonia being sent to Delhi from Haryana, the Chief Minister of Delhi called up the Chief Minister of Haryana in last week of December and requested him to either take steps to reduce ammonia or provide additional water to dilute it. Though CM Haryana assured that he would take necessary steps, however, he did not. Subsequently, CM Delhi again called him several times. After a few calls, CM Haryana stopped taking CM Delhi’s calls. And CM Haryana did nothing to mitigate the situation. In the meanwhile, ammonia levels kept increasing. Subsequently, CM Punjab also called up CM Haryana on behalf of CM Delhi. CM Punjab spoke to CM Haryana multiple times during this period. Though CM Punjab was also assured, however, CM Haryana again did not take any steps to mitigate the situation.
The Chief Secretary of Delhi also spoke to the Chief Secretary of Haryana several times during this period to solve the issue. At one point, the Chief Secretary Haryana advised that CM Delhi should speak to CM Haryana, which she did. But nothing happened. But it also indicated that the decision to pollute Yamuna or not to solve the problem by providing additional water was being taken at highest political levels.
b. Kindly note that the ammonia levels started increasing very sharply from 15 Jan onwards (around 3.2 ppm on 15 Jan) and reached 7 ppm a few days later. At this stage, it was felt that there was a deliberate attempt on the part of CM Haryana to influence Delhi elections by sending polluted water to Delhi with very high levels of ammonia. When the grievance remained unresolved and ammonia levels reached the unprecedented levels of 7 ppm, Chief Minister of Delhi, Ms. Atishi, was forced to do a press conference on 27.01.2025 and the said press conference was tweeted by her on “X” at 01:17 PM on 27.01.2025, thereby highlighting the concern with respect to rise in the level of ammonia in water reaching Delhi due to discharge of contaminated water from the state of Haryana.
c. Thereafter at 1.34 PM on 27.01.2025, CM Delhi again tweeted about the said issue.
d. I quoted Ms Atishi’s tweet and tweeted at 1:51 PM on 27.01.2025. Ms Atishi’s tweet that was quoted is as follows –
“Due to the fear of losing the elections, BJP wants to make the people of Delhi thirsty. BJP is getting its Haryana government to release poisonous water into the Yamuna river. There is so much ammonia in the water that 3 water treatment plants of Delhi are on the verge of shutting down. 30% of the people of Delhi will not get water.
In Hinduism, there is no bigger sin than stopping water. The people of Delhi will answer the BJP for this sin on February 5…” (Originally in Hindi)
Quoting the above tweet, I tweeted at 1.51 pm as follows – There is no bigger sin than making people thirsty. For its dirty politics, BJP wants to make the people of Delhi thirsty.
BJP workers from Haryana are mixing poison in water and sending it to Delhi. If people in Delhi drink this water, many people will die.
Can there be anything more disgusting than this? The poison that is being mixed in water and sent cannot even be cleaned in the water treatment plant. For the safety of the people of Delhi, water supply has to be stopped in many areas.
Our effort is to cause as little trouble to the people as possible. The BJP people want to commit mass murder of the people of Delhi. We will not let this happen at all. (Originally in Hindi)
e. The alleged statement made by me at 04:29 PM on 27.01.2025 was thus in continuation of the above sequence of events and thus in relation to ammonia only. In the said statement I clearly stated that CM Delhi and CM Punjab had sought time from CEC on an urgent basis to discuss this issue. The said letter of the two CMs is attached, which clearly shows that the time was sought to discuss high levels of ammonia.
Thus, from the aforesaid chronology it is clear that the alleged statement of the undersigned was made only and only in context of unprecedented high levels of ammonia in the raw water supplied to Delhi by Haryana.
The above sequence of events clearly establishes that there was a deliberate conspiracy on the part of Haryana CM, who happens to be from BJP, to influence Delhi elections by sending highly polluted waters to Delhi. He knew very well that this would create artificial water scarcity in Delhi, whose blame would lie on AAP government in Delhi. This would have rendered almost half of Delhi without water and would have created huge public misery for almost 10 million people of Delhi who would have gone without water.
Therefore, it is crystal clear from the above sequence of events that it is Haryana CM who is at fault. A criminal case should be registered against him for attempting to cause serious miseries to the people of India’s capital. If the CEC doesn’t take action against Haryana Govt. who have been perpetrators of this above incident, you will be normalising such ghastly actions in electoral politics. In future, riparian states which have the same government as the centre can use such unethical tactics to influence elections even at the cost of large scale public misery. ‘Water’ could be used as a weapon to win elections if this behaviour goes unchecked.
I am also shocked that the CEC did not pass any orders directing Haryana CM to stop polluting Delhi’s waters right before elections. Rather, CEC chose to hound me.
In so far as your specific questions are concerned, the same are answered as follows:-
Nature of poison found mixed:- Ammonia
Supporting Evidence:- Statement of CEO, DJB dated 27.01.2025 with table which is attached herewith.
Location:- As per the statement of CEO, DJB dated 27.01.2025
Detection by which officer:- CEO, DJB and other officers of DJB.
Methodology:- Same can be confirmed from the CEO, DJB and other officers of DJB.
The alacrity with which CEC has acted against me when I was merely acting on an issue of very high public importance and have averted a huge public crisis in Delhi is baffling. Equally baffling is CEC’s refusal to direct Haryana to stop polluting Delhi’s waters.
Complete silence and inaction of CEC in taking any effective action against BJP leaders against blatant violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and the RP Act, who are openly distributing various articles and doing registrations of various schemes, is again shocking. CEC says that they don’t have evidence or witnesses against BJP when TV channels are day and night showing these violations and several complaints have been filed to CEC regarding that. People of India are watching CEC’s actions and inactions with great concern. Leaders and volunteers of the Aam Aadmi Party are being persistently hounded by the BJP and persecuted by local police. Such disparity in enforcement undermines public confidence in the fairness of the electoral process. If free and fair elections are compromised, the very essence of democracy stands eroded.
If the CEC continues ignoring the widespread practice of purchase of votes in lieu of cash and goods by the BJP, you will end up normalising this corrupt practice as well. Large scale video evidence of testimonials of people who have received this money have been published by almost all the mainstream media channels and are circulating widely. Yet, the CEC is refusing to acknowledge any of it.
Across the world, India is known as a bedrock of democracy. The CEC, with its clear act of omission and negligence of corrupt practices by the BJP, looks set to tarnish this image of India globally. More importantly, CEC was looked upon as an independent institution by the common man. Unfortunately, the conduct of the CEC in the current tenure has completely eroded people’s faith in this institution. The current CEC might go down in the nation’s history as an organisation that deeply wounded Indian democracy and have caused irreparable damage to this sacred institution.
If no action is taken against the Haryana government and the BJP leaders involved in corrupt practices it will be amply clear to everyone that the CEC keeps the interest of the ruling party over public interest. Unfortunately, I can’t be expected to be silent on this and tow this line out of fear or expectations of favour. My only concern is the health and safety of the people of Delhi and I will fight for the protection of our democratic principles. Whatever illegal punishment you may wish to impose on me under the instruction of the BJP is a small price to pay for it, and I welcome it with open arms.
