The crisis in the Aam Aadmi Party continued as party chief Arvind Kejriwal fired Water Minister Kapil Mishra on Saturday. After he was sacked, Mishra met Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and claimed to have told him that he has witnessed Kejriwal accepting “illegal cash”. He also held a press conference where he claimed he had witnessed the chief minister taking Rs 2 crore from minister Satyendar Jain just two days earlier. This came days after Mishra had sided with Kumar Vishwas, who had disagreed with Kejriwal over the electronic voting machines matter.

An official told PTI that the decision to remove Mishra from the post was made at a Cabinet meeting chaired by the Delhi Chief Minister. The reason given for sacking him was that Mishra had allegedly submitted several “inflated” bills, PTI reported. At the same meeting, the party also decided to induct two people into the Cabinet – Seemapuri MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam and Najafgarh legislator Kailash Gehlot.

Advertisement

Mishra said that the decision was made “unilaterally” by Kejriwal. “I was not informed of the decision and as per my knowledge, it was taken unilaterally by Kejriwal. The Cabinet or the Political Affairs Committee was not involved,” he told PTI. Mishra has claimed that his sacking was connected to a tanker scam report, about which he said he would release “explosive details” on Sunday.

Besides this, 14 district chiefs were also shuffled at the meeting, India Today reported. This re-shuffle was because of the party’s big loss in the city civic polls.

The party crisis had deepened after Vishwas had spoken up and was criticised by Okhla legislator Amanatullah Khan. Khan was later suspended from his post as Vishwas had demanded it. Khan had also claimed Vishwas was trying to overthrow Kejriwal, something several party leaders had objected to. However, Khan was made the chief of the Delhi Assembly Committee on Welfare of Minorities on Friday.