AAP Claims BJP Conspiracy In Assault Row At Kejriwal's Residence, Swati Maliwal Hits Back

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday (17 May) countered senior leader Swati Maliwal's allegations that she was "slapped seven times and kicked in the stomach" by an aide of Arvind Kejriwal inside the Chief Minister's residence.

The AAP accused Maliwal of colluding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to undermine the party during the general election.

In a press conference, Delhi Minister and AAP leader Atishi referred to a 52-second video of the confrontation between Maliwal and the staff at Kejriwal's residence.

The video shows a woman, identified as Maliwal, arguing with the guards who repeatedly ask her to leave.

The woman refuses, threatens the guards with police action, and dares them to physically remove her.

Atishi pointed to the video, which Maliwal claims is being taken out of context, to suggest that the BJP had orchestrated a plan to target Kejriwal.

She stated that the video exposed the alleged conspiracy by the BJP to discredit the Chief Minister, who was recently released on bail after his arrest on corruption charges, just days before the Delhi Lok Sabha election.

Atishi accused the BJP of conspiring with Maliwal, calling her the "face and pawn of this conspiracy."

She claimed the BJP was unsettled by Kejriwal's rising popularity and national political standing.

"Ever since Arvind Kejriwal got bail the BJP has been rattled. Due to this, BJP hatched a conspiracy, under which Swati Maliwal was sent to Arvind Kejriwal's house on the morning of May 13. They intended to accuse the Chief Minister... but he was not there then, so he was saved," Atishi said, NDTV reported.

"Swati Maliwal was the face and pawn of this conspiracy," she added.

Referring to the video from Monday, Atishi argued that the clip demonstrated the falsehood of Maliwal's allegations.

"In her complaint to the police, she said she was assaulted... but the video shows her sitting comfortably and threatening officials... also seen threatening Bibhav Kumar. Her clothes were not torn and there was no injury on her head," Atishi claimed, disputing Maliwal's claim of being repeatedly slapped and kicked.

Hitting back at AAP, Swati Maliwal, in a post on X, alleged without naming anyone that the "political hitman", has begun the attempts to protect himself by orchestrating supportive tweets and releasing out-of-context videos.

She argued that no one would record a video while assaulting someone and called for an examination of the CCTV footage from inside the house to reveal the truth.

"Just like every time, this political hitman has started trying to save himself again. By having his people tweet and playing videos without context, he thinks he will commit this crime and save himself. Does anyone make a video while beating someone? Once the CCTV footage from inside the house and the room is examined, the truth will come out in front of everyone. Fall as low as you can, God is watching everything. One day, everyone's truth will be revealed to the world," Maliwal said in a post in Hindi.

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