The Aam Aadmi Party was on Monday grappling with yet another raging controversy after a party volunteer accused senior leader Kumar Vishwas of not rebutting ‘rumours’ about an illicit liason with her and ruining her reputation, giving a handle to the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party to attack it.
The Delhi Commission for Women summoned Vishwas, considered close to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and his wife, asking them to appear before it on Tuesday after the volunteer approached it seeking its intervention in forcing the AAP leader to dispel the allegations.
he woman, who claimed to have campaigned for Vishwas in Amethi in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, said she had also written separate letters to Kejriwal and Police Commissioner B S Bassi on the issue but neither of them have responded.
Facing the heat, Vishwas, a member of AAP's political affairs committee, said the allegations against him were false and baseless and it was part of a defamation campaign against the AAP by rival parties.
DCW Chairperson Barkha Singh said, "It is the same volunteer who has been coming to us for quite some time now. He (Vishwas) should come since the complainant is his own party's volunteer. The volunteer's marriage is falling apart because of him, she has alleged."
The Delhi police said it has already registered a first information report and investigation was underway on the complaint filed by the woman. The ruling AAP in Delhi has been battling internal strife apart from a string of controversies including over the educational qualification of its law minister and suicide of a farmer at a rally here in Jantar Mantar last month.
"The allegation against Vishwas is totally false and baseless. The AAP is being targetted. There is no basis for the allegation. Please spare our families," AAP leader Sanjay Singh said, addressing a press conference.
Besides slamming Vishwas, the Congress targeted Kejriwal accusing him of showing insensitivity as the victim had ‘knocked’ at his door seeking help.
"The victim approached Kejriwal but he remained silent when his own party volunteer approached him for justice...Such apathetic and insensitive behaviour from him is very unfortunate," party spokesperson Shobha Oza said while demanding a thorough investigation into the issue so that the ‘culprits’ be punished.
Delhi BJP leader Vijendra Gupta said that Vishwas and the Delhi chief minister should come forward to clarify.
The woman said, "Just because of this allegation my husband has left me. I have two kids. I come from a middle class family where they feel that since Kumar Vishwas is AAP spokesperson and a known face, maybe there was something between the two of us.
"I am unable to explain. That's why I want Vishwas to speak on this but he is not doing so. That's why I had to go to the Women's Commission."
The woman also sought police protection citing an alleged threatening call from a certain ‘close aide’ of Vishwas. "I received a call at around 10.30 pm on Sunday night and I was threatened. The person who made the call stays with Vishwas and manages his party work.
"Since I have been threatened, I would also want police protection. However, I haven't made any formal demand in this regard yet because the call came late night," she said.
The woman claimed after her complaint to the Women's Commission, people from the AAP leader's side were putting in efforts to get in touch with her. She castigated Kejriwal saying, "You claim to protect the country's women but you cannot even protect your own party's female worker".
Viswas, who has in the past too courted controversy over his alleged derogatory remarks against women, accused the media of playing into the hands of the BJP and of being ‘extortionist’.
"She registered a complaint 15 days back, but the police has not taken any action yet. She had sent me a mail saying Kumar bhaiya, what should I do now? Thereafter, our AAP's legal cell asked her to register an FIR in this regard," said Vishwas.
Vishwas said he was hurt by the ‘baseless allegations’. "During the Delhi assembly election, we were also defamed by the BJP to gain political gain. A private TV channel is running a baseless story against me...I have sent a defamation notice to it," he said.
Slamming the Delhi police, Vishwas said the woman in her complaint even named some persons who were behind defaming her, but the Delhi police is not taking action against them.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the woman had named four persons in her complaint to Delhi Police on March 31, accusing them of maligning her image on social media.
"When nothing happened, she made a complaint to the woman commission," he said.
He said in none of her complaints, the woman had talked about any illicit relationship.
"Despite that it is being made as if an illicit relationship has been unearthed.... The woman has complained about maligning her image. She has accused a BJP spokesperson of tweeting her photo," he added.
Singh asked the media to refrain from targetting the party without evidence.
"If there is a premeditated strategy to target AAP then, please don't be part of it. If there is any evidence, if you have facts, then please run a story. But please don't run cooked up stories where the fact is something and something else is being run," said Singh.
"It is my humble request to friends in media. If we are wrong, do run a story, crucify us, we have no problem. But kindly spare our families. Our wives, our children get hurt by these stories, please spare them," he added.
Meanwhile, the Delhi police said an FIR on the woman's complaint was registered on April 29 under IPC section 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) and Section 67A of the IT Act at Nand Nagri police station in North East Delhi and they are investigating the case. No arrests have been made in the case so far.
"We had registered an FIR in this connection on April 29. Further investigations are on," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North East) Veenu Bansal.
He, however, did not reveal the names of the accused in the FIR but sources said that three persons have been named by the victim in this case.
Image: AAP's Kumar Vishwas said these claims were baseless allegations and slammed the BJP for spreading lies. Photograph: Kumar Vishwas/Facebook
