Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday demanded an apology from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on the purported assault on AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal at his residence on May 13. She said it was unacceptable that Kejriwal had said nothing about the attack on Maliwal, purportedly by his PA, at his official residence. Calling the incident incomparable to any other, Sitharaman said, “In the CM’s residence, when the CM was present, his right hand man Bibhav Kumar attacked a woman AAP member, Rajya Sabha MP from the party, and someone who was till recently the head of the Delhi Women’s Commission — look at the symbolism here — and the Chief Minister does not utter a word. He must apologise.” She said while AAP MP Sanjay Singh said a day after the incident that action will be taken against the accused, Kejriwal, who has been silent, was seen with the accused in Lucknow. “This is the height of shamelessness,” the minister said. Sitharaman underlined that when Kejriwal was asked the question at a press conference he held in Lucknow, he moved the mic away. She called AAP an “anti-women” party and referred to a statement by Shazia Ilmi, former AAP leader now with the BJP, who was sitting next to her, that no male or female leader is “simply” removed from the party. “Bouncer se pitwaayenge ya PA se pitwaayenge. Aadmi ko zaleel kar ke nikaalenge (They will get them beaten up by bouncers or their PA. They will humiliate people and then remove them),” Sitharaman said. She pointed out that AAP MLA Sharad Chauhan was an accused in a woman's suicide case, another AAP leader Somnath Bharti allegedly attacked his own pregnant wife and AAP leader Amanatullah Khan faced sexual harassment charges. The minister recalled that former AAP member Madhu Bhaduri had said in 2014 that “AAP had a khap panchayat mentality and women weren’t considered human there”. Sitharaman said that the video of Maliwal going for a medical examination showed that she was in pain and she was not able to walk easily. She said the fact that Maliwal did not file a police complaint for three-four days shows there was pressure on her. She said other INDIA bloc parties should also condemn the incident.
