AAP minister Atishi addresses a press conference over the Swati Maliwal case.
Credit: X/@AamAadmiParty
New Delhi: A day after Delhi Police registered an FIR following allegations of Swati Maliwal being beaten up at Delhi Chief Minister’s residence, AAP on Friday called its Rajya Sabha MP the 'face of a BJP conspiracy' to trap Arvind Kejriwal.
It refuted allegations of Maliwal being assaulted by the Chief Minister’s aide Bibhav Kumar inside Kejriwal’s official residence when she went to meet the latter on Monday morning citing a 51 second video though its senior leader Sanjay Singh had earlier said the incident of misbehaviour took place.
The leaked video that went viral on social media showed Maliwal sitting inside the residence where security personnel were asking her to leave and she telling them she had called police. Kumar filed a complaint against Maliwal on Friday, countering her claims and putting his side of the story. The Aam Aadmi Party also shared images of the written complaint by Kumar on 'X'.
“I will tell (you) all. Let me talk to your DCP,” Maliwal was heard saying in the video while warning a security personnel that she would get them terminated if he touches her. She also allegedly used an abusive word against one of the personnel. Police are yet to verify its authenticity.
At a press conference here, senior AAP leader and Delhi Minister Atishi claimed that the episode that unravelled was a conspiracy scripted by the BJP to level “false” allegations against Kejriwal, who is out on interim bail in the excise policy case.
“As part of the conspiracy, Swati Maliwal was sent to Kejriwal’s residence…The intent was to level allegations against Kejriwal. Swati Maliwal was the face of this conspiracy…The Chief Minister was not there. That is why he got saved. Then she levelled allegations against Bibhav Kumar,” she claimed.
Atishi claimed that the video which surfaced on Thursday has proved Maliwal’s “lies”. She added, “She (Maliwal) was saying in her complaint that she was beaten up, she had head injury, that her clothes were torn, she was in such pain that she couldn’t speak (on Monday)...But the video shows that she was sitting there and threatening police and Kumar…But nowhere she spoke about assault.”
Providing the sequence of events, she claimed that Maliwal reached the residence unannounced and without an appointment. She was not allowed at the gate but Atishi claimed she bulldozed her way threatening the security personnel and sat in a waiting room near the residential complex.
She was told again by the security that she did not have an appointment but she then forced her way into the drawing room of the residential premise when security personnel called Bibhav, who told her that the Chief Minister cannot meet her, Atishi said.
According to Atishi, the Rajya Sabha MP then raised her voice and tried to enter other rooms but Kumar prevented her from doing so. He stood there and prevented her when she tried to push him and asked security to escort her outside.
Atishi also claimed that Maliwal did not agree to do a medical test on Monday on the day of the alleged incident and after three days, the BJP has now come up with a “new script”.