Asking why the Chief Minister Aravind Kejiriwal is silent over the alleged assault of his own party MP Swati Maliwal, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 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.
“Kejriwal has not said a single word on the assault since May 13. He talks so much about 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” she added.
“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.
Meanwhile, the AAP on Friday released a purported video in which Maliwal could be heard having a verbal exchange with a man.The video named “Swati Ka Sach” . Police sources said that this video is of a few seconds only and there may be more videos, the people present there will be interrogated regarding this.
Maliwal took to her X account, and reacted to the video shared by her party. “Like every time, this time also this political hitman has started efforts to save himself. By getting his people to tweet and playing videos without any context, he thinks he can save himself after committing this crime. Who makes a video of someone being beaten up? The truth will be revealed to everyone as soon as the CCTV footage of the house and the room is checked,” she posted on X.
Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar, who was asked by the National Commission for Women (NCW) to appear before it in connection with alleged assault on Swati Maliwal, failed to do so on Friday. The commission had summoned Kumar to appear before it at 11 am.
NCW chief Rekha Sharma said a team of the commission had gone to Kumar’s residence on Thursday to serve him notice but he was not home. “Kumar’s wife refused to receive the notice. My team has gone to his residence again today with police and if he does not appear (before NCW) by tomorrow, then we will go personally to inquire,” Sharma told reporters.
The Delhi Police has constituted over a dozen teams to search and trace Bibhav Kumar, the CM’s Personal Assistant (PA). On Thursday night, the police had reached Kumar’s residence, however, left after he was not present at home.