New Delhi/IBNS: Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has dared Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal to drink water from Yamuna river amid the heated political battle over pollution in the waterbody ahead of the assembly elections in the national capital.

"Kejriwal-ji had promised to clean Yamuna river, take a bath and drink water. I dare Kejriwal-ji to drink a glass of water from Yamuna river and let's see what happens to you. We will meet you (Kejriwal) at the hospital," said Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Hauz Qazi Chowk.

The Congress, which ruled the national capital until Sheila Dikshit was unseated by Arvind Kejriwal in 2013, drew a blank in the 2020 assembly elections which saw the AAP roaring back to power with 62 out of 70 seats.

Though the Congress fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in an alliance with the AAP, the two parties decided to fight the assembly elections in the city separately.

In 2024, the Congress-AAP alliance couldn't grab a single seat as prime minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won in all seven seats in the national capital.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh chief minister and a key ally of the BJP, N Chandrababu Naidu, has lashed out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is facing a 10-year anti-incumbency in the February 5 assembly elections in the national capital.

Naidu, who was campaigning for the BJP in Delhi, slammed Kejriwal for blocking prime minister Narendra Modi's various central schemes besides leaving the national capital of any growth.

He said, "There is no difference between drainage water and drinking water. In 10 years, Modi-ji has given Amrut in urban areas and Jal Jeevan in rural areas, home, tap water with sustainable source.

"Why didn't it happen in Delhi? Ego problem. If he (Arvind Kejriwal) uses that money, the credit will go to the Centre. Is this the way?"