Salt on Maliwal's wounds: Sitharaman as Kejriwal 'roams' with accused aide

Swati Maliwal on Thursday filed a formal complaint with the Delhi police against Arvind Kejriwal's assistant, Bibhav Kumar, for allegedly assaulting her at the CM's house on Monday

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday criticised Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his silence on the alleged assault of AAP MP Swati Maliwal, labelling him as "shameless" and "scared."

Addressing a press conference at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters in New Delhi, Sitharaman held Kejriwal solely responsible for the incident, which she claimed occurred while the AAP chief was present at his residence.

Sitharaman was referring to Maliwal's accusation against Kejriwal's personal assistant, alleging physical assault by him at the CM's residence on Monday. A formal complaint was filed by the Delhi police on Thursday.
 

"Since May 13, Delhi CM Kejriwal has not uttered a single word on the matter. It is unbelievable and unacceptable. When the CM is present in his house, a man considered his right-hand man misbehaves. But Kejriwal is not bothered and does not care to even issue a statement. He should publicly apologise over the matter," Sitharaman demanded.

Sitharaman also said that was reason to believe there was pressure on Maliwal and it continues.

She targeted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for its "inaction" on the issue. Citing MP Sanjay Singh's Tuesday press conference, Sitharaman noted that no action had been taken despite Singh's assurance.

"The next day (Tuesday), MP Sanjay Singh says action will be taken but no action has been taken. They further rubbed salt on the wound by roaming around with Bibhav Kumar in Lucknow after the incident without any care in the world," she said.

“Besharmi ki bhi hadd hai,” Sitharaman remarked.

The BJP has been targeting the AAP by sharing a photo of the Delhi CM with the accused at the Lucknow airport, where Kejriwal was present to attend a press conference with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

Sitharaman further slammed the Delhi CM for avoiding questions on the issue during Thursday's press conference in Lucknow. "And in front of the press. Out of fear and shamelessness, you are avoiding the question," she said.

Sitharaman suggested that all women in Delhi are unsure of how Kejriwal will look after their safety when he "does not care" about such an incident occurring at his own house.

"Kejriwal is solely responsible for the incident. However, I would like to highlight the condition of anti-woman Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party. I start with Shazia Ilmi's statement, who said earlier today that AAP party leaders are humiliated, beaten….Sharad Chouhan, Somnath Bharti are accused of incidents of violence against women but are still associated with the party," she said.

She further attacked the Opposition's INDIA bloc, of which the AAP is a partner, for failing to nominate any woman candidate for the seven Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai.