Former Delhi Water Minister and Karawal MLA Kapil Mishra on Tuesday said he would file three First Information Reports against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party. The first FIR would be on an alleged cash deal between Health Minister Satyendar Jain and Kejriwal, the second on how Jain had helped close relatives of the chief minister, and the third on how AAP leaders were going on junkets abroad using illegally gotten wealth, Mishra tweeted.
He also sought Kejriwal’s blessing before filing the FIRs, which he described as the “biggest step of his life”. He challenged the chief minister to contest against him in the election and said he would visit the office of the Central Bureau of Investigation at 11.30 am to “reveal everything”.
“If there’s a shred of morality left in you, resign from your seat and fight an election against me,” he dared Kejriwal.
Meanwhile, senior AAP leader and Cabinet minister Satyendar Jain has also decided to file a defamation suit against Mishra for accusing him and Kejriwal of misappropriating funds, PTI reported on Monday, quoting an unidentified party official. Earlier in the day, Jain, who is also Delhi’s power minister, had said “no deal took place” between him and Kejriwal and that Mishra was lying after “losing his mental balance”.
The AAP had on the same day suspended Mishra from its primary membership. The decision had been taken by its high-powered Political Affairs Committee chaired by Kejriwal himself. “From Sunday, I am seeing, how much will Kapilji lie? There is limit to it. He is levelling all kinds of allegations... On Friday [May 5], I wasn’t even present with the chief minister, so how can there be a talk of the deal. There is a limit to foolishness,” Jain said.
Besides accusing Kejriwal of taking Rs 2 crore from Jain, Mishra had levelled another set of allegations on Monday – that of a Rs 50-crore land deal arranged for the family of Kejriwal’s brother-in-law SK Bansal. “Jain told me that he had arranged a seven-acre land deal in Chattarpur for the Bansal family. He also fudged bills of up to Rs 10 crore to benefit Kejriwal’s relative,” Mishra claimed.
Incidentally, Bansal died of a stroke on Sunday.
Amid the furore, most other party MLAs are backing Kejriwal in the matter, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday. The newspaper said it had approached 41 of the party’s 65 MLAs and most said Mishra’s claims were baseless, though two said the allegations must be investigated. While suspended legislator Devinder Sehrawat called the party’s top leadership “average personalities” whose “lifestyle has left a lot of scope for doubt,” rebel MLA Pankaj Pushkar, known for his support of Swaraj Abhiyan’s Yogendra Yadav, said, “These allegations are not completely without base, and yet not completely sound. Mishra has been changing his statements, and at the same time AAP is now more personality-driven and less goal-driven.”
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!