NEW DELHI: After the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal was arrested and sent to jail on April 1 this year, there were several Rajya Sabha members in the party who had been unwilling to participate in party protests. Sources say Swati Maliwal was also one of those leaders who did not show concern for the party affairs during Kejriwal’s incarceration.
Meanwhile, the AAP is sticking to their story of the incident on May 13 about which Maliwal alleged that she was physically assaulted by Kejriwal’s close aide, Bibhav Kumar when she went to meet the CM in his residence. AAP maintains, Kejriwal did not want to meet Maliwal and therefore, Bibhav stopped her from entering the CM’s residence, which angered Maliwal.
However, according to AAP, before Kejriwal’s arrest she is said to have had direct access to Delhi CM and would come to meet him at his residence anytime she wanted to. AAP leaders are repeating ad nauseam the official version that “Kejriwal was not at home that time, Bibhav had stopped her from entering the premises. She might have taken it to her ego and hurled abuses.”
It must be mentioned here that there is no way of verifying the claims being made by AAP, and at least on social media, Swati Maliwal has refuted all the claims made by AAP.
The Sunday Guardian tried to get in touch with Maliwal over the phone; however, there was no response from her.
Sources said, Kejriwal would receive feedback in jail about the functioning of his party leaders. The reports about some Rajya Sabha Members such as Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, and Raghav Chadha (among others) of his party had displeased him as they had distanced themselves from party affairs when the Delhi-based party was going through a rough patch.
An AAP leader said, “Kejriwal knew everything; he got reports on everyone. He knew who was up to what. She may not have followed the party guidelines during Kejriwal’s arrest. Moreover, she was not protesting against the ruling party when it was needed, also during Kejriwal’s unfulfilled medical needs in jail. This must have made Kejriwal realize who is with him and who is not. Therefore, Kejriwal must have instructed Bibhav not to entertain Maliwal if she tried to meet him again.
Another reason could be that when he went to jail, there were many leaders in the party who had started behaving in a different way. Their body language changed completely. They thought they would get the top position. But that did not happen.”