New Delhi, April 25: Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal launched a scathing attack on AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday, calling him "corrupt, a liar, and a hooligan" — just one day after she, along with six other Rajya Sabha MPs including Raghav Chadha, formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In an exclusive interaction with IANS, Maliwal firmly denied joining the BJP under any pressure or compulsion, stating it was an entirely voluntary decision driven by her disillusionment with Kejriwal's leadership.

Two Decades of Betrayal: Maliwal's Journey with Kejriwal

Maliwal revealed that her association with Arvind Kejriwal dates back to 2006, making it nearly two decades of political partnership before the bitter falling out. "I left my home, gave up my job, and lived in jhuggi areas for seven years, supporting him in every movement," she said, underscoring the personal sacrifices she made for the AAP cause.

However, she alleged that Kejriwal repaid her loyalty with betrayal. Reiterating her 2024 assault allegations, Maliwal stated: "Arvind Kejriwal got me brutally beaten by his aides at his official residence. When I tried to file an FIR, I was threatened and intimidated." She added that over the subsequent two years, multiple attempts were made to pressure her into withdrawing the complaint.

She also accused Kejriwal of being an "anti-woman person" — a charge that carries significant weight given that Maliwal previously served as the Chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), a role in which she was widely regarded as a fierce advocate for women's rights.

The Collapse of Simplicity: From Jhuggi Politics to Sheesh Mahal

One of Maliwal's sharpest critiques centred on what she described as Kejriwal's abandonment of the movement's founding principle of simplicity. "Simplicity was one of our most important aspects when we started — that has been completely lost by Arvind Kejriwal," she said.

This is a pointed reference to the now-infamous "Sheesh Mahal" controversy — the renovation of the Delhi Chief Minister's official residence at a reported cost of over ₹33 crore, which became a major flashpoint during the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections and contributed to the BJP's decisive victory in the capital. Maliwal argued that Kejriwal's pivot from austerity to opulence symbolises the broader moral collapse of the AAP project.

She further alleged that after losing Delhi, Kejriwal is now running the Punjab government via remote control, installing rejected Delhi MLAs in key Punjab commissions without appointing a single local Punjabi to any significant post.

Punjab as a 'Personal ATM': Serious Allegations of Misgovernance

Maliwal directed some of her harshest allegations at the AAP's governance record in Punjab. "He has made the AAP government in Punjab a personal ATM. Due to him, today Punjab has drowned in corruption," she alleged.

She specifically called out the appointment of Bibhav Kumar — the aide accused of assaulting her at Kejriwal's residence — as Chief Advisor to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and claimed he has been granted Z+ security cover in Punjab. "The man who hit me and behaved so rudely has been rewarded with a top advisory post and elite security," she said, calling it a direct affront to justice.

Maliwal also blamed the AAP government in Punjab for allowing illegal sand mining and the drug mafia to flourish, accusing the party of exploiting Punjab's resources to fund a lavish lifestyle for its leadership. "Punjab will never forgive them," she asserted.

Silenced in Parliament: AAP's Only Woman MP Denied a Voice

In a particularly damning revelation, Maliwal claimed that despite being the only woman MP from AAP in the Rajya Sabha for the past two years, she was never allocated speaking time from the party's parliamentary quota. "I was not allowed to speak in Parliament out of the party's allotted time for two full years," she said.

She noted that it was only after the new Rajya Sabha Chairman V.P. Radhakrishnan began personally allotting her time from his own quota that she could finally speak. "Recently I spoke on POCSO issues for 10 minutes," she mentioned — a topic directly aligned with her long-standing advocacy for child and women's safety.

This allegation, if accurate, raises serious questions about internal democracy within AAP and whether the party systematically suppressed a dissenting voice from its own ranks.

BJP Join: A Choice, Not a Compulsion

Addressing speculation about the circumstances of her switch, Maliwal was categorical. "On one hand there is Arvind Kejriwal's hooliganism and corruption, and on the other hand there is decisive leadership in the country — that of PM Modi," she said.

She expressed her desire to work under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and firmly stated: "I am not joining the BJP under any compulsion."

Maliwal also predicted that the AAP's internal crisis is far from over, claiming that several other leaders within the party are "deeply disappointed" and that the party will "collapse very soon." Notably, the mass exit of seven Rajya Sabha MPs — including high-profile figures like Raghav Chadha — in a single day represents one of the most significant organisational blows the AAP has suffered since its founding.

As the BJP consolidates its gains from Delhi and looks toward upcoming state elections, the political rehabilitation of Maliwal — a figure with credibility on women's issues — could prove strategically significant. For AAP, the challenge now is to prevent further defections while managing a Punjab government under intense scrutiny. The coming weeks will test whether Kejriwal can stabilise his shrinking political base.