The BJP had raised a stink over the matter, saying it raises a question mark on the Delhi government’s ability to ensure the safety of the city’s women when AAP’s own leaders are not safe in the premises of the CM’s residence.
At Tuesday’s press conference, Singh said, “A very condemnable incident took place yesterday morning. Swati Maliwal had gone to Arvind Kejriwal’s residence to meet him. She was waiting in the drawing room when Bibhav Kumar misbehaved and disrespected her. She dialled 112 and informed the police.”
“The CM has taken cognisance of the incident and has directed that action be taken. Swati Maliwal has worked for the country and society, and she is among the oldest and most senior leaders of the AAP. We are with her. AAP does not support such people (Bibhav),” he added.
AAP sources said the public reprimand for Kumar came as he “crossed the line”, and the statement would help “defuse the needless controversy” and pacify Maliwal.
Last month, the Delhi Directorate of Vigilance had sacked Kumar as Kejriwal’s personal secretary in connection with a 2007 case, in which he was accused of using “criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty”. He has also been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy case.
Speaking about the rift between Maliwal and the party leadership, an AAP leader said on the condition of anonymity, “The CM was not happy with her prolonged absence from Delhi before and after his arrest. The same goes for others who have been missing, too.”
According to another AAP functionary, “With the CM’s displeasure with her being evident, her requests to campaign for the party have also not found favour with many within the party.”
Maliwal did not respond to calls and texts by ThePrint requesting her comment. She has also not lodged any formal complaint with the Delhi Police so far after Monday’s incident.
Distance with leadership goes further back
Senior AAP leaders dismissed speculation that Maliwal was upset over being asked to relinquish her Rajya Sabha membership so that the party could accommodate the Congress’s Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Kejriwal’s lawyer in the excise policy case.
“There is zero element of truth in such theories,” a top AAP leader told ThePrint Tuesday. A former AAP functionary said that knowing “Maliwal’s unpredictable nature”, the party would not dare make such a proposal to her within months of her elevation to the Upper House.
They said that the story of her growing distance with the party leadership goes further back.
Maliwal has been working with Kejriwal since his days as a social rights activist. A member of Kejriwal’s NGO Parivartan, she was among the most active volunteers during the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement, which was the precursor to the AAP, led by Kejriwal, with Anna Hazare as its face.
Between July 2015 and January 2024, when she was elected to the Rajya Sabha, Maliwal was the chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). Her tenure at the DCW was marked by the body’s active intervention in instances of crime against girls and women.
It also drew criticism, at times, for issuing notices in cases outside the boundaries of Delhi, which many within AAP saw as attempts to grab the limelight. In March 2023, she went public with allegations that her father had sexually abused her when she was a child. Before that, she had also expressed relief over calling off her “bad marriage”, with both instances drawing praise for her courage in terms of challenging societal norms.
Limited campaign presence
On 29 March, over a week after Kejriwal’s arrest, Maliwal, responding to BJP social media head Amit Malviya, had posted on X that she was in the US for her sister’s medical treatment.
बस थोड़ा सा वक़्त खैर मना ले IT Cell fake news factory…बहन का इलाज पूरा हो रहा है और बहुत जल्द आ रही हूँ।
सड़क से लेकर संसद तक तुम जैसे देश के दुश्मनों से लड़ाई लड़ूँगी…और हाँ, जब तुमने बीजेपी बोलना भी नहीं सीखा था, उससे पहले से अरविंद केजरीवाल के साथ काम कर रही हूँ और मरते… https://t.co/UCOx6c4kqC
— Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) March 29, 2024
“I will fight against enemies of the country like you from the streets to the Parliament. I have been working with Arvind Kejriwal and will continue to do so till my last breath. What you are terming as a sinking ship has risen further due to your atrocities. Just like I troubled you for the last nine years from the Women’s Commission, be ready for the next six years as well!” Maliwal had written.
But even after her return towards the end of April, Maliwal has hardly been active on the ground. She campaigned, along with Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, for AAP’s East Delhi Lok Sabha candidate, Kuldeep Kumar, on 26 April, and a day later, for the party’s West Delhi candidate, Mahabal Mishra.
On 29 April, Maliwal hit the headlines again after the Delhi government’s Women and Child Development Department terminated 52 “illegally appointed” contractual employees working with the DCW due to alleged violation of recruitment norms during her tenure as its chairperson.