DW BUREAU / New Delhi

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini slammed AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday, accusing him of trying to cover up his failures and mismanagement in Delhi by spreading false propaganda, including claims that the Yamuna water was poisoned.

Addressing a public meeting at Delhi's Nangloi in support of Manoj Shaukeen, the BJP candidate in the February 5 Assembly polls in the capital, Saini said Kejriwal is defaming Haryana, his state of birth, by levelling false allegations and his "shop of lies" will be shut down after February 8, when the election results are scheduled be declared.

"Arvind Kejriwal is attempting to cover up his own failures and mismanagement by spreading false propaganda, including claims that the Yamuna water was poisoned, in an effort to create tension between Haryana and Delhi. The Yamuna is not just a source of water for me but a matter of faith. I have personally consumed the water of the river and exposed the lies of the former Delhi chief minister," he said.

"We have our brothers and sisters in Delhi. Will we be poisoning your water? Our prime minister, our (Bharatiya Janata Party's) central leadership ... all of them live in Delhi, so are we supplying some different water to them? Kejriwal knew that the public will ask him about the bad water quality in Delhi and hence, started spreading this fake narrative," Saini said.

At another public meeting in the Wazirpur constituency in support of BJP candidate Poonam Sharma, the Haryana chief minister arrived with a pitcher of Yamuna water.

"I have consumed the water in Haryana. On Friday, I went to the Yamuna ghat in Wazirabad and showed both samples (of the river water collected from Delhi and Haryana) to the public. The truth is in front of the public and they will no longer be misled. Kejriwal has defamed his own state of birth, Haryana, by making these false allegations. He is resorting to cheap politics to cover up his failure in fulfilling his promises to the people of Delhi," Saini said.

(editor@dailyworld.in)