Kejri sees conspiracy in Vishwas affair
Says rivals framing AAP leader, high drama at women’s panel meet
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday defended senior party leader Kumar Vishwas and said that he was being ‘framed’ by vested interests.
The defence came on a day when Delhi Commission for Women witnessed high drama. DCW had summoned Vishwas and his wife to talk to a party volunteer who claims her husband left her after rumours about her affair with the AAP leader floated on social media.
In her complaint to the commission, the complainant had demanded that Vishwas and his wife publically deny rumours of an affair.
Vishwas, however, did not appear before the commission on Tuesday claiming that he had not received a notice. He has been asked to appear before the commission on Wednesday now but some reports suggest that he is scheduled to fly to USA that day.
He said BJP’s “dirty mind department” was behind the controversy and that the media should question the man who wants his wife’s character certificate from another man.
Later in the day, drama ensued at DCW as a member, Juhi Khan, who is also an AAP member, claimed that Vishwas was innocent and was instead a victim of political mudslinging. She also resigned from her post as a DCW member in the middle of a press conference. The DCW chairperson, however, took exception to her statement and said that Vishwas should appear before the commission on Wednesday. Khan, however, said that the matter should never have been taken up as it was politically motivated step.
In the complaint, the AAP volunteer had not levelled any charges against Vishwas. She had demanded a public denial of an affair. Even in the FIR, the complainant had accused three men of defaming her. No allegations were made against Vishwas.
Earlier in the day, several AAP leaders alleged that the complainant was coached by a Congress party member after a video of a man whispering into the ear of a woman prior to her statement to the media was circulated. The man, according to AAP leaders, was a former Youth Congress leader from Noida.
AAP, meanwhile, issued an statement that echoed Kejriwal and expressed shock at the way the party leaders’ families were being targeted. “Both Vishwas and the complainant have denied an affair. His whole family is depressed. When his daughter went to school in the morning, her friends asked her about the rumours. What sort of politics is this? Please attack us, leave our families alone,” the statement said.