Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday accused certain unnamed media houses of deliberately targeting the Aam Aadmi Party, and pleaded with them to spare the families of party leaders while pursuing their respective 'agendas'.
"Ever since the Delhi elections results came in and the Aam Aadmi Party received a massive mandate, the AAP and its government is being targeted and maligned by certain media houses. Throughout the day, these media houses are running false stories about the AAP. Till now, we have kept defending ourselves, but the story which was splashed on Kumar Vishwas has crossed a line," Kejriwal said, in an exclusive interview to ANI.
"You have a fight with us, but please spare our families. The way Kumar Vishwas's entire family was brought under the scanner was a terrible thing to do. Kumar Vishwas is being accused of having an affair. Both parties have denied the same but these media houses are still running the same story," he added.
Kejriwal further said that his party would now speak to the media only on matters concerning the work done by the Delhi Government.
"This incident has left Kumar Vishwas's family in a state of depression. His daughter was forced to skip school today. Is this politics? Is this journalism? Without proof, will you destroy somebody's life? Our entire party is upset over this and our entire party has taken the decision to stay silent. If you want to ask questions about our government or our work, we will answer. However, if you ask us about our personal lives, we will not," he said.
Vishwas has been accused of having a physical relationship with a volunteer in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, where he had unsuccessfully contested against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi from Amethi.
The victim has alleged that Vishwas's wife has been spreading rumours that she found him in a compromising position with the poet-turned politician. She has also alleged that she is being defamed on social media. Vishwas had, however, yesterday termed the woman's allegations as baseless and put the onus on the Delhi Police which he said did not take any action on her complaint. He also accused the media of twisting the entire story to malign the party's image.