Swati Maliwal assault case: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday (May 17) uped the ante on Arvind Kejriwal over the alleged assault of Aam Aadmi Party MP Swati Maliwal, and asked why the Chief Minister is silent on the matter. Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed a press conference on the issue and said that Kejriwal was "shamelessly" visiting Lucknow with his Personal Assistant Bibhav Kumar, who is accused of thrashing Maliwal, for a meeting with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Sitharaman attacks Kejriwal
"Kejriwal has not said a single word on the assault since May 13. He talks so much on women but did not speak a single word on the matter. When CM is at his residence, his PA assaults the Rajya Sabha MP in his presence. He is seated in his house, and still not speaking on it. On the next day, Sanjay Singh said action will be taken. Where is the action? He was in Lucknow with Bibhav Kumar with shamelessness. There is no limit to shamelessness," Sitharaman said at the press conference.
"When he was asked about the assault, am using the word cautiously, out of shamelessness and fear, he passed his microphone. You are still sitting on the CM post. The women of Delhi are asking how will this CM provide security to them," she added.
BJP alleges "pressure" on Swati Maliwal
Citing the delay in registering the official complaint by Maliwal on the matter which occurred on May 13, Sitharaman claimed that there was "enough pressure on her".
"The fact that Swati Maliwal did not register a complaint in Police for 3-4 days (after the incident) means that there was pressure on her from high-level. There is reason to believe that there was enough pressure on her and probably continues on her," she said.
What is Swati Maliwal's case?
On May 13, Maliwal alleged that Arvind Kejriwal's PA Bibhav Kumar assaulted her at the Chief Minister's residence when he was present. However, she did not file an official complaint with the police then. On May 16, the Delhi Police reached her residence to record her statement on the matter, after which an FIR was registered against Kumar, making him the accused in the case.
Arvind Kejriwal has been maintaining silence on the matter. At a press conference in Lucknow on Thursday, Kejriwal was asked about the incident, however, he dodged the question and AAP MP Sanjay Singh, who was also present at the press meet, responded to the question. He had earlier said that Kejriwal will take strict action on the matter.
The police have registered a case against Kumar and formed teams to trace him.
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