New Delhi: The political temperature in Delhi continues to rise with rebel Aam Admi Party (AAP) leader Kapil Mishra on Monday submitting “evidence” against Chief Minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal in the Rs400 crore (Rs4 billion) water tanker scam to Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) alleging that he and his “two men” influenced and delayed the investigation into the scam.
The scam allegedly took place during the chief ministership of Congress leader Sheila Dikshit.
This is Mishra’s second big allegation against Kejriwal. On Sunday, he had alleged that he saw Kejriwal take Rs2 crore (Rs20 million) “illegal cash” from city health minister Satyendar Jain at his official residence. He also alleged that Jain had admitted to “fixing” land deals worth Rs50 crore (Rs500 million) for the CM’s relatives.
Anti-corruption crusader Arvind Kejriwal launched the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012, and it won the Delhi state legislature election a year later, when he became the chief minister. Kejriwal, a 58-year-old former civil servant, campaigned to rid the Indian political system and governance of corruption and inefficiency.
The party’s symbol — a broom- and its promise to sweep the administration of graft struck a chord with Delhi residents fed up with venal politicians, runaway inflation and slowing economic growth. The Congress party has been blamed for widespread corruption.
But he resigned as the chief minister 49 days later because his minority government couldn’t enact an anti-corruption law due to a lack of support from other political parties.
He took over as the chief minister for a second five-year term in 2015 after his party’s stunning victory in the state elections when it grabbed 67 of 70 seats.
“I told the officials how Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal deliberately delayed the report and how public money was misused. Also, I told them how Kejriwal along with his two men affected the tanker scam probe. The government also tried to shield Sheila Dikshit time and again. The ACB will call me again for a detailed investigation,” Mishra told media on Monday.
He also demanded a lie-detector test for Kejriwal, Jain and himself on his allegations that he was an eyewitness to the Rs2 crore (Rs20 million) exchanging hands between Kejriwal and Jain on last Friday.
“Now I have become a complainant and a witness in the water tanker scam, and how Kejriwal and two his aides Ashish Talwar and Vibhav Kumar tried to scuttle the investigation and tried to save Sheila Dikshit,” Mishra tweeted.
He said he decided to raise his voice as “it was impossible to wait even for a day.” He also claimed he had drawn Kejiwal’s attention to “multiple instances of corruption” within AAP.
“When I asked him about money, Kejriwal refused to answer. He said there are certain things in politics which are explained later,” Mishra stated.
Interestingly, ACB is headed by police officer Mukesh Kumar Meena who has repeatedly been targeted and labelled as “most corrupt officer” by AAP.
Mishra was sacked as the Delhi Water Minister on Saturday with Deputy CM Manish Sisodia claiming he was removed over complaints of inflated water bills.
Kejriwal has so far refused to react to the allegations. AAP, however, has alleged that Mishra was acting on behalf of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and making baseless allegations “out of desperation” after being sacked from the government and party.
“I ask you why would Kejriwal invite Mishra to witness such an alleged cash exchange at his official residence? The BJP’s priorities are misplaced. It is trying to target AAP rather than target terrorists at the border,” Sisodia said.
Sisodia called the allegations “baseless and laughable.”
“The allegations against Kejriwal are unsubstantiated. No one will believe them,” he added.
Mishra, however, said he was sacked for speaking out against corruption.
“Mishra is saying exactly what the BJP has been trying to allege. It is clear that the BJP is behind this. It is laughable,” said AAP leader Sanjay Singh.
In his tenure as Water Minister, Mishra had repeatedly raked up the Rs400 crore (Rs4 billion) water tanker scam, which alleges Sheila Dikshit-led government of irregularities in hiring 385 private water tankers to supply water in areas without access to piped water.
AAP formed a panel in August 2015, which submitted its report to the Kejriwal-led government and concluded that there were massive irregularities while awarding tenders.
The report recommended filing a police complaint against Dikshit by ACB and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The issue was again brought up by Mishra on Monday.
Mishra is considered close to Kumar Vishwas, the AAP leader who almost quit the party last week over an internal feud.
Activist Anna Hazare, with whom Kejriwal started an anti-corruption drive in 2011, said, “I cannot tell how deeply sad I am”.
