Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal posted a photo of 'Draupadi Cheer Haran' from the Mahabharata as her mentor and AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal lost the Assembly election and the ruling party was ousted from power in Delhi on Saturday.
Her post went viral on social media as it sought to equate her with Draupadi and AAP leaders with Kauravas in Mahabharat who humiliated her and paid a heavy price for it.
The AAP’s defeat in the Assembly election on Saturday came as sweet revenge for Maliwal, once a close associate of Kejriwal, who had alleged an assault at the former Chief Minister’s residence by an aide of the AAP convener.
She had been angry at Kejriwal and other party colleagues for not standing up for her and fighting for her dignity after she was assaulted. Kejriwal had remained silent over the incident, but some AAP leaders had accused Maliwal of being a BJP stooge for maligning the party.
Maliwal said that her assaulter did so on the instructions of Kejriwal.
The assault incident soured relations between Maliwal and Kejriwal and the party even as she filed a criminal complaint against Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar over the incident in May 2024.
Since then, Maliwal, who earlier served as the chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women, has been protesting against Kejriwal and AAP leaders on various issues ranging from pollution, dirty Yamuna, contaminated water, and choked sewers.
She had also held several sit-ins in front of Kejriwal's residence to highlight issues that needed public interest.
Maliwal said it was time for introspection by Kejriwal whom I know as a man with "uncontrolled anger", after the AAP's debacle in the Assembly election.
She attributed the party's defeat as also because of its disconnection from voters and the dictatorial leadership of the top leaders of the party.
I have given 15 years of my life to the growth of the party and it pains me to see the decay and downfall of this institution," she said.
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