Congress leader Ajay Maken on Sunday raised questions about the Centre’s will to fight against corruption when he pointed out that no FIR has been filed against the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi even after the Shunglu committee alleged serious charges against it. “When no report has been filed then how can we believe that the Centre is serious in fighting against corruption. A case must be registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act,” Maken said while speaking to reporters in Delhi.
Maken also referred to sacked AAP leader Kapil Mishra’s claims that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took a bribe of Rs 2 crore from Health Minister Satyendra Jain. “Now, Kapil Mishra alleges that he has himself seen Satyendra Jain giving Rs 2 crores cash to Kejriwal! This is a serious charge! Any answers?” he tweeted. He said Mishra’s allegations were serious and is “an affidavit he gave before the entire country”.
The Bharatiya Janata Party also seized the opportunity to demand Kejriwal’s arrest. “They fought for corruption, initially. Now corruption charges are being levied against their party leaders. This should be taken into account and Kejriwal should be arrested immediately,” Union Sports Minister and BJP leader Vijay Goel told ANI. However, chief of BJP’s Delhi unit Manoj Tiwari presented a more toned down version. He said it has shocked Delhi. “It’s not an allegation but statement of a witness… Congratulate Mishra for showing courage,” said Tiwari.
However, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said such “baseless claims” do not merit a response. He added Mishra was perhaps upset for being sacked, reported The Indian Express. Senior party leader Kumar Vishwas said “no one would believe Kejriwal took a bribe”, and said Mishra’s allegations had “hurt [him] personally”.
The AAP has been facing an internal crisis, most recently visible in Kejriwal firing Mishra, his water minister, on Saturday. After he was sacked, Mishra met Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and claimed that he had seen Kejriwal accepting “illegal cash”. He also held a press conference during which he said he had watch the chief minister take 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 about his stand of Electronic Voting Machines matter. The AAP had sacked Mishra claiming he had submitted several inflated bills.
Mishra, however, said that the decision was made by Kejriwal alone. “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 said. He had claimed that his sacking was connected to a tanker scam report, about which he said he would release “explosive details” on Sunday.
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