On Monday (13th May), the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal accused the Personal secretary of Arvind Kejriwal of assaulting her. The media reported that Swati Maliwal had stated to the police that Bibhav Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal’s PA, had assaulted her at the residence of the Chief Minister on his instruction, no less. Kumar was recently sacked by the Vigilance Department from the position of personal secretary over a 2007 case involving assault against a public servant.
What followed was rather inexplicable. There was radio silence. The media reported that Swati Maliwal had indeed reached the police station but left saying that she would submit a written complaint later. While the media speculated what might have happened, Swati Maliwal, her party and the Chief Minister – Arvind Kejriwal – maintained radio silence.
It was rather odd that after grave allegations of a woman Rajya Sabha leader being beaten up by the secretary to the Chief Minister, at the behest of the Chief Minister, there was simply no word. No spokesperson or the functionary of the party issued even a performative statement saying that they would investigate the allegations levelled by Swati Maliwal. Apart from records of 2 PCR calls by a woman claiming to be Swati Maliwal which came from inside the Chief Minister’s house and media reports, there was no trace of an incident as big as this one.
During the 24 hours of radio silence, several speculations surfaced. One of them was that Swati Maliwal was beaten up because Arvind Kejriwal wanted her to resign from her Rajya Sabha seat because he wanted to reward a senior lawyer who had been helping the party in the court. Another claimed that Swati was assaulted perhaps due to personal reasons. Yet another was that Swati Maliwal was never assaulted and that the entire drama was concocted to garner media attention. The last one, of course, seemed plausible given not only the silence but also the history of Swati Maliwal, Arvind Kejriwal and the party itself.
However, that speculation at least was put to rest when Sanjay Singh, accused in the liquor scam out on bail, held a press conference confirming the assault.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Singh added that Bibhav Kumar who is the Personal assistant of Delhi CM assaulted and misbehaved with her. He asserted that CM Kejriwal has taken cognisance of the matter and will take appropriate action against him.
Describing yesterday’s attack on Swati Maliwal as condemnable, Sanjay Singh said, “Yesterday, a condemnable incident took place. Swati Maliwal had gone to Arvind Kejriwal’s residence to meet him. While she was waiting for him in the drawing room, Vaibhav Kumar allegedly misbehaved with her. The CM has taken cognisance of the matter, and he will take appropriate action.”
Regarding Swati Maliwal, Sanjay Singh said that she is a senior leader of the party and everyone is with her.
While the assault against Swati Maliwal inside the CM residence was confirmed by Sanjay Singh, the press conference led to far more questions than it answered, the primary one being – was the press conference held to shield Arvind Kejriwal?
The media reports on the matter mentioned that Swati Maliwal had alleged that she had been assaulted by Bibhav Kumar at the behest of Arvind Kejriwal. If that is the case, how was his name conspicuous by its absence in the press conference by Sanjay Singh?
In fact, in a video message on X on Tuesday, Swati Maliwal’s ex-husband, Naveen Jaihind, claimed that the former DCW chief’s life was in danger and urged her to come forward and speak out. “I am Naveen Jaihind. Since yesterday, I have been receiving numerous calls from journalists about what happened to Swati Maliwal at the Delhi Chief Minister’s residence. Firstly, I want to clarify that I am divorced from her and have had no contact with her for the past four years. Secondly, I want to assert that what happened to Swati was premeditated, and now she is being threatened. Anything could happen to her,” Naveen said. “The person who assaulted Swati wouldn’t dare act without someone else’s orders. I just watched Sanjay Singh’s press conference and I want to tell him to stop pretending because he knows everything. Swati should stand up and speak for herself. What are you afraid of? Speak up, we are all with you. Her life is in danger,” said Jaihind.
Naveen clearly says that Sanjay Singh was putting on a show, that Bibhav would not assault Swati Maliwal without the explicit orders of the CM and that Swati Maliwal’s life was in danger, Signalling a larger conspiracy, he says that Sanjay Singh knows about whatever is at play here which led to Maliwal being assaulted and that he should stop pretending.
Essentially, the initial media reports get confirmation from the statement of Naveen.
Given that, one has to wonder if the press conference by Sanjay Singh was merely damage control to ensure that the entire blame of the assault goes to Bibhav Kumar, with Arvind Kejriwal coming out of the grave controversy unscathed.
So far, there is no confirmation, either from Swati Maliwal, the party or her former husband as to the motive of the assault. Naveen, her ex-husband, hinted at a larger conspiracy but also did not reveal what the exact motive of the assault was.
Given the circumstances, there are several questions that AAP and Arvind Kejriwal especially need to answer.
- After the initial PCR calls, why did Swati Maliwal not file a complaint immediately, given that she had gone to the police station? Was she being threatened?
- After the assault, why has Swati Maliwal not spoken up in public for over a day now? Does this prove that Maliwal is under threat, as claimed by her ex-husband?
- If Arvind Kejriwal was not involved in the assault, why did he not immediately issue a public statement stating that he would investigate the assault by his PA? Since he has been out on bail, Kejriwal has spoken in public rallies. Then why the silence when it comes to this case?
- If Arvind Kejriwal was not involved and was under some mysterious constraint to not hold a press conference, why did he not take to X at least to issue a statement? History proves that the CM is not above using X even for personal communication.
- Why did the Sanjay Singh press conference come after over 24 hours of radio silence? Was AAP strategising to save Arvind Kejriwal? Was the press conference supposed to ensure that only Bibhav Kumar was implicated in the assault gate and not Kejriwal?
- It is now established that the assault indeed did take place inside the CM house. Is it possible that a woman was being beaten up and assaulted inside the premises and nobody in the premises heard her screams for help? Is it possible that the CM himself was not aware?
- Where was Sunita Kejriwal when the assault took place? If she was inside the CM residence, did she try to save Swati Maliwal?
- Was Swati Maliwal assaulted because of the Rajya Sabha seat tussle, as speculated by the media or because she did not come out in support of Arvind Kejriwal after his arrest in the Liquor Scam?
- Does Swati Maliwal perhaps know some details of the scam because of which she kept silent? And did this become the reason for her assault?
- What is the larger conspiracy that Naveen Jaihind is referring to? Who is involved in this conspiracy and why?
It is pertinent to remember that Delhi goes to poll on the 25th of May. Arvind Kejriwal has been long grandstanding about his prospects in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. He recently claimed that if Delhi votes for him, he would not have to go back to jail. The Supreme Court has instructed Kejriwal to report back to jail on the 2nd of June. If Kejriwal, who constantly talks about the safety of women in Delhi, is implicated in the assault of his own Rajya Sabha leader who was the DWC chairperson, no less, his already bleak poll prospects would certainly be dampened further.
It would appear that Sanjay Singh’s shabby press conference after hours of silence and Arvind Kejriwal’s conspicuous absence is an attempt to save him from these grave allegations. The hope seems to be that their silence would help the story recede into oblivion ahead of the polls on the 25th. However, certain issues have ramifications beyond the election cycle and the assault of a woman leader inside the CM’s residence is certainly one of them. While questions remain unanswered so far, the only thing that appears to be clear is that this story is going nowhere and there are skeletons that the public is not privy to. It is not a question of IF but WHEN those skeletons would start tumbling out of the closely guarded AAP closet.
