Former Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra’s allegations against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have come as a shock not just to the Capital’s residents but also political leaders who have been critical of the AAP national convener in the past.
Kumar Vishwas, senior leader and a close aide of Mr. Mishra, spoke in favour of Mr. Kejriwal minutes after Mr. Mishra went public with his allegations. “Even Mr. Kejriwal’s enemies will never believe that he can indulge in corruption. These are serious allegations and Mr. Mishra will have to produce proof,” Mr. Vishwas said.
Swaraj India national president and former AAP leader Yogendra Yadav expressed his disbelief on Twitter. “I might agree with charges of power greed, arrogance, authoritarianism against Kejriwal, but the charge of taking bribe need solid evidence [sic],” he tweeted.
‘Opportunity lost’
Prashant Bhushan, who was expelled from the AAP along with Mr. Yadav, expressed concern over the visible rift in the party saying: “The true test of character comes in adversity. We are now seeing true faces of the AAP’s remnants as its ship sinks. What an opportunity lost.” Mr. Mishra alleged on Sunday that he had seen Cabinet Minister Satyendar Jain handing over ₹2 crore to Mr. Kejriwal on Friday and that Mr. Jain had made way for a land deal worth ₹50 crore for Mr. Kejriwal’s relative.
Alleging that “Mr. Jain was being given certificates of merit by Mr. Kejriwal and that his records should be made public”, Mr. Mishra said: “I know people will believe me the day Mr. Jain is jailed. We all should wait for that day.”
‘DJB praised earlier’
He added, “Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said I was removed as water management in the city was not up to the mark. But he and Mr. Kejriwal praised the performance of the Delhi Jal Board in all the interviews.”
“Even during civic poll campaigns Mr. Kejriwal had said the DJB had managed to give people free water up to 20,000 litres and still earn profits. Were they lying to the people of Delhi?”
Party sources said Mr. Mishra changed the script of his narrative at the last moment. They said that after stressing on ‘exposing’ details on the water tanker scam on social media since Saturday, he made no mention of it before the media on Sunday.
