Bibhav Kumar, an assistant to Arvind Kejriwal, is accused of assaulting Swati Maliwal.
Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena of Delhi supported AAP MP Swati Maliwal on Tuesday in the wake of her claimed assault at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s home, expressing his “deep distress” over the media’s portrayal of the incident. Saxena, who has a tense relationship with the AAP-led Delhi government, stated in a statement released by Raj Niwas in Delhi that Maliwal had phoned him and detailed “her traumatic experience” in detail out of “sheer anguish.” In the meantime, the Aam Aadmi Party claimed that Saxena’s admission demonstrated her affiliation with the BJP.
Swati Maliwal informed VK Saxena about the “intimidation and shaming that she is being subjected to by her own colleagues” during their conversation.
“I have been deeply distressed over the unfolding media narrative over the last few days on the issue of alleged assault on Swati Maliwal, MP, Aam Aadmi Party, at the residence of Chief Minister, when she went there to meet him all alone,” Saxena said in a statement.
“Yesterday, she called me out of sheer anguish, describing at length her traumatic experience, and the subsequent intimidation and shaming that she is being subjected to by her own colleagues. She also expressed concerns over reported tampering of evidence and coercion against her,” he added.
AAP, in a statement, accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy.
“LG’s statement proves that Swati Maliwal is working for the BJP. The BJP is hatching a new conspiracy every day during elections – sometimes liquor scam, sometimes Swati Maliwal, sometimes false allegations of foreign funding. The BJP will use new tactics everyday during elections. BJP is losing badly. Modi ji’s sinking ship is taking support of Swati Maliwal,” it said.
Bibhav Kumar is accused by Swati Maliwal of repeatedly kicking and slapping her in Arvind Kejriwal’s Delhi drawing room. She stated that at the time of the purported incident, Kejriwal was inside her home.
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party has supported Kumar, Kejriwal’s personal secretary, asserting that Swati Maliwal had unexpectedly entered the chief minister’s residence. The party went on to say that she was acting at the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) request in order to hurt Kejriwal.
AAP spokesperson Atishi stated on Monday that the BJP used an old ACB case as leverage to get Maliwal to file a formal complaint against Bibhav Kumar.
Despite having a Z-level security detail, Kejriwal was asked to explain today by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) how Swati Maliwal entered his home without an appointment.
The Delhi police took Bibhav Kumar into custody on Sunday.
Meanwhile, all of the employees who were at Kejriwal’s house on May 13 have had their statements recorded by the police as of today.