The internal conflict in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is getting murkier by the day. A day after Delhi Tourism and Water Minister Kapil Mishra was sacked from the Cabinet, he alleged that he witnessed his colleague Satyendra Jain handing over ₹2 crore to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Addressing the media at Rajghat on Sunday, the ousted Minister said that when he asked the reason for the transaction Mr. Kejriwal told him, “Not everything in politics happens for a reason.” He also alleged that Mr. Jain had helped fix a land deal worth ₹50 crore for Mr. Kejriwal’s relative.
Sisodia denies charge
Mr. Kejriwal’s deputy, Manish Sisodia, immediately came to his rescue, denying all charges. “All allegations levelled by him are baseless. No one will believe them. These are not worthy of any reactions,” he said.
Mr. Jain refused to comment.
On Saturday evening, Mr. Kejriwal removed Mr. Mishra from the Cabinet citing “inefficient water management in the city.” Najafgarh legislator Kailash Gahlot and Seemapuri MLA Rajendra Gautam have been inducted into the Cabinet, taking the total number of Ministers to seven.
On Sunday, Mr. Mishra claimed that he was removed from his post after he met Mr. Kejriwal on Saturday and told him that he was going to meet the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) to divulge details on the tanker scam.
The ₹400 crore alleged scam is said to have taken place when the Congress party’s Sheila Dikshit was the Chief Minister of Delhi. She was CM until 2013. The ‘scam’ involved irregularities in hiring private water tankers to serve areas that are out of the Delhi Jal Board’s pipeline network.
“I was removed after I made the allegations. I am not making the allegations because I was removed,” Mr. Mishra said. He also said that these weren’t mere allegations but he had come to Rajghat after recording his statement with Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal.
Mr. Mishra said many issues had been raised against the AAP, including irregularities in funding during the Punjab elections, “but we always thought Kejriwal ji did not have knowledge about them.”
“I could not sleep knowing about such transactions. Till now, I had thought that Arvind Kejriwal would not tolerate corruption,” he said. He, however, dismissed possibilities of him leaving the party and reiterated that he was among the first few leaders who were involved with the AAP even before its inception.
Meanwhile, political opponents have demanded Mr. Kejriwal’s resignation.
“Kejriwal has no moral right to hold the post of chief minister. He must resign immediately,” Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said. “I have said a number of times that Kejriwal is directly involved in corruption. Mishra’s allegations prove that point.”
The Congress party said Mr. Mishra’s claims were not mere allegations but testimony of an eyewitness warranting criminal proceedings against Mr. Kejriwal.
