“Spat out the water…”: Arvind Kejriwal Alleges Haryana CM Pretended to Drink Yamuna Water; BJP Hits Back

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief Arvind Kejriwal accused Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini of pretending to drink Yamuna water before spitting it back into the river. The allegation came after Kejriwal shared a video on social media showing Saini on Wednesday, performing Achman, the ritual of sipping water from the holy river, at the Yamuna riverbank in Haryana.

Taking to social media platform X, the former Delhi Chief Minister said, “Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini pretended to drink Yamuna water... and then spat the same water back into the Yamuna.” He went on to claim that the water coming into Delhi from the river was unsafe, citing contamination, especially ammonia that could pose serious health risks to residents. “They want to make the people of Delhi drink the same poisonous water which they themselves cannot drink. I will never let this happen,” he added.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Haryana dismissed Kejriwal’s accusations, alleging that the video he shared had been edited. They challenged Kejriwal to “take off the glasses of lies and deceit” and suggested that he should try drinking the Yamuna water in Delhi himself. The BJP also posted the "real" version of the video, showing Saini performing the ritual without hesitation. Saini also responded to the controversy by sharing his own video, emphasizing that he had “performed Achman of holy Yamuna water at the Haryana-Delhi border without any hesitation.”

This incident is part of a broader issue Kejriwal has raised about the quality of water coming from Haryana to Delhi. In a letter to the Election Commission, Kejriwal provided evidence of severe pollution in the Yamuna, claiming that the raw water supplied to Delhi was “highly contaminated and extremely poisonous” for human consumption. He further pointed out that as a lower riparian state, Delhi relies on water from Haryana, an upper riparian state. Kejriwal appealed to the Election Commission to intervene, urging that safe water be supplied to Delhi’s residents. “The facts prove no violation of any law or any code has been committed,” he wrote in his 14-page letter.​