Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal expressed his support for Water Minister Atishi as she started an indefinite hunger strike demanding water from Haryana.
Atishi began her protest in Bhogal where Sunita Kejriwal, the Delhi CM’s wife, and other AAP leaders came to support her. Sunita Kejriwal read a message from the chief minister, who is in Tihar jail in the Delhi liquor policy case, expressing hope that Atishi’s ‘tapasya’ (dedication) would succeed.
“Atishi is beginning hunger strike today, I extend my wishes to her,” Kejriwal said from jail.
The chief minister said he felt deeply troubled to see that people are suffering from water shortages during the intense heatwave.
“It’s our culture to offer water to the thirsty. Delhi gets water from neighbouring states. We hoped support of neighbouring states in such intense heat. But Haryana reduced Delhi’s water share. Although there are governments of different parties in the two states but is this time for politics over water?” Kejriwal said referring to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Haryana.
In recent weeks, several areas of Delhi have faced severe water scarcity due to insufficient raw water, disrupting production at the city’s treatment plants. The situation has been exacerbated by the ongoing intense heatwave in northwest India.
Atishi, along with Sunita Kejriwal, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, and Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat this morning.
“I will start ‘Pani Satyagraha’ from today… I will start an indefinite fast at Bhogal, Jangpura from 12 o’clock until the people of Delhi get their rightful share of water from Haryana,” she said on X earlier in the day.
Earlier this week, Atishi said that she had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the water crisis in the city.
“I have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the water crisis requesting him to resolve the issue. If the crisis is not solved within two days, I will go on an indefinite strike from June 21,” Atishi said during a press conference on Wednesday.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader claimed that Delhi has a water crisis because Haryana is not releasing the capital city’s share.
“Yesterday, Haryana released 513 MGD (million gallons per day) of water to Delhi as against 613 MGD. One MGD of water is for 28,500 people. This means that water was not released for over 28 lakh people,” she said on Wednesday.
Atishi said that she has written multiple letters to the Haryana government to address the issue, but to no avail.
The BJP, on the other hand, slammed the ruling AAP government in the city for failing to provide water to the people of Delhi.
“Atishi has now stooped to theatrics to divert attention from theft and black marketing of water. Haryana provided surplus water to Delhi yesterday and there are official documents to prove it, but she is now resorting to drama. This government should be sacked,” Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini also accused the Delhi government of mismanagement claiming that Haryana is giving adequate amount of water to the national capital.
