'Pressure on Swati Maliwal', claims BJP as no complaint filed over assault

'No complaint has been lodged by Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal until now in the matter,' said a police office

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors caused disruption during a Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) meeting on Tuesday, over the alleged assault reportedly suffered by Swati Maliwal at the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal the previous day. 
 

This disruption occurred despite the fact that Swati Maliwal, a member of the Rajya Sabha for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), had not filed a police complaint and remained unreachable for a second consecutive day.
 

On Monday, Delhi Police received two calls from Chief Minister Kejriwal's residence, claiming that Maliwal, who had been abroad for several weeks and had limited involvement during the chief minister's entanglement in an excise police case, was assaulted when attempting to meet Kejriwal there. Kejriwal's aide, Bibhav Kumar, allegedly prevented her from meeting him before these calls were placed.

 

A police official stated, "No complaint has been lodged by Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal until now in the matter."

Maliwal, the former chief of the Delhi Women’s Commission, remained unresponsive to calls and messages for the second day, as did her associates. She has not made any public appearances or social media posts since the alleged assault was reported.

Police were likely to submit an action taken report to the National Commission for Women (NCW), which had taken cognisance of the incident and urged it to investigate, demanding accountability for the perpetrators.

The BJP has also called for a thorough investigation into the incident. Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva stated, "There is pressure on Maliwal to not speak. A thorough investigation should be conducted to bring out the truth so that Kejriwal’s misogynistic face can be exposed again."

During the MCD meeting on Tuesday, BJP councillors protested the alleged assault by climbing onto tables and raising slogans against Kejriwal, leading to the adjournment of the meeting without any discussions.

BJP councillor Raja Iqbal Singh said they tabled a "condemnation motion" regarding the alleged incident at the chief minister’s residence, asserting, "This incident which took place at the chief minister’s residence...exposes AAP’s anti-women face.”

Singh emphasised that the BJP would support Maliwal regardless of her party affiliation, stating, "If there is any misbehaviour with women, we will stand with them."

Mayor Shelly Oberoi reportedly did not allow the resolution, which deemed the chief minister’s residence unsafe for women and sought to condemn the purported incident, to be tabled. Oberoi appealed to BJP councillors to cease their disruption and eventually adjourned the session citing the ongoing national polls and the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in place.

Oberoi said the BJP councillors created a ruckus and did not allow any discussion. “The intention of BJP councillors is just to divert attention from MCD issues...We wanted to debate on issues. Over the last year, the BJP did not allow any standing, special or other committee to be formed. They want to disrupt the functioning of MCD.”