Several leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) protested near Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence on Wednesday afternoon against the alleged “misbehaviour” with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal at the CM’s residence on May 13 by his private secretary Bibhav Kumar. The leaders demanded Kejriwal’s resignation over the matter and asked for strict action against Kumar.
A senior Delhi Police officer said that several teams have tried to contact Maliwal but she could not be reached. “We sent our teams to several possible locations, including her residence in Civil Lines and her friend’s residence in CR Park, but she could not be located. So far, police do not have any written complaint in connection with the alleged misbehaviour,” he said, asking not to be named.
Also read: Sanjay Singh meets Swati Maliwal amid assault row; ‘Is she safe’: BJP stages protest
The protests happened a day after AAP leader and MP Sanjay Singh said Kejriwal had taken note of the misbehaviour.
“If any sister of Delhi faces misconduct, the BJP will take to the streets, and today we are on the streets for honour of Swati Maliwal. Today, the leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party and the chief minister are sitting quietly… Sanjay Singh, a member of the Delhi Rajya Sabha, came 36 hours later… When Singh has admitted that there has been misconduct with Swati Maliwal what is the wait for? The anti-women Arvind Kejriwal should resign immediately,” said Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva while addressing party workers.
Singh’s admittance came a day after Delhi Police received two calls from Kejriwal’s residence claiming Maliwal was assaulted there. Maliwal herself, who has been incommunicado since, arrived at Civil Lines police station soon after but left stating she would file a complaint later. She has also not made any public statements regarding the incident.
The incident triggered a political row with the BJP demanding an investigation into the matter and alleging that it exposed the “anti-women face of the AAP”. Party leaders Alka Gurjar, Sumit Bhasin, Richa Pandey Mishra and several other workers also raised slogans and demanded an FIR. Several BJP leaders were detained by police and taken to the Civil Lines, where they were released later.
The officer quoted above said police have the CCTV visuals from where the alleged incident happened. “They are being examined to find out the sequence of events,” he added.
Also read: Swati Maliwal’s ex-husband demands FIR against Kejriwal, offers to help police
Sachdeva also claimed Maliwal was being pressured to not speak on the matter.
Neither AAP nor the CM’s office officially commented on the matter on Wednesday. Kejriwal also did not mention the matter during the roadshows at Model Town and Jahangirpuri.
AAP leader and former Laxmi Nagar MLA Nitin Tyagi in a post on X questioned AAP’s silence over it.
“It took around 36 hours for the party (AAP) to acknowledge the misbehavior with Swati Maliwal or settle the matter. It was surprising that the revolutionary workers of the party kept silent over it. The leaders of our women’s wing, which considers Swati Maliwal their role model, did not speak a word on this. If we cannot stand with a woman like Swati Maliwal then we cannot stand with anyone,” Tyagi posted.
