Joint presser: Kejriwal mum on Maliwal ‘assault’; ‘more important matters,’ says Akhilesh

At a joint press conference in Lucknow on Thursday (May 16), AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal refused comment on party MP Swati Maliwal’s allegations of assault at his residence, while SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said there are "more important things" to discuss.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh, who was also present at the press conference, said there should be no politics on the issue.

He then targeted the BJP government and raised the issue of a Manipuri woman being paraded naked, the Prajwal Revanna sex scandal and Maliwal being 'beaten' up by police during protests by wrestlers when she was the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief.

Kejriwal dodges question

When Kejriwal was asked a question over the alleged assault of AAP Rajya Sabha MP Maliwal, Yadav took the microphone, and said, "There are more important things than that".

He then unfolded a piece of paper and said, "BJP people are not with anyone, it is a 'gang' that lodges false cases".

Singh then took the microphone from the Samajwadi Party (SP) chief, and said the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should answer for atrocities against women during the party rule.

PM stayed quiet when women were harassed: AAP leader

"The entire country is sad till date that wife of a Kargil veteran was paraded naked in Manipur and the prime minister of India remained silent. Prajwal Revanna raped thousands of women and he was allowed to flee from the country by the BJP," he alleged.

"When the female wrestlers were protesting at Jantar Mantar, Swati Maliwal went there as NCW chief, she was dragged and beaten by the police. In Uttar Pradesh, in case of Kuldeep Singh Sengar and Hathras, the prime minister of India has remained quiet and not said a word," he said.

Maliwal had alleged that the Delhi Chief Minister's assistant Bibhav Kumar "misbehaved" with her at his residence.

Singh, who had met Maliwal at her residence on Wednesday, said, “The AAP is our family. The party has made its view clear. I want that BJP and prime minister should also answer on the issues I have kept before you. He (PM) should answer on the issue of Swati Maliwal, who was dragged and beaten when she went to seek justice for the female wrestlers. I just want to say don't play political games on the issues”.

(With inputs from agencies)