AAP in crisis: Kapil Mishra fires fresh salvo at Arvind Kejriwal, it's all out war now

Keeping up the heat on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his sacked cabinet colleague and ex-minister for water resources Kapil Mishra on Monday said that he would hand over evidence and documents related to corruption, financial irregularities, nepotism and dubious land dealing of Kejriwal to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and file an FIR. [caption id=“attachment_3431602” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Kapil Mishra. Twitter[/caption] Mishra’s latest allegations have gone beyond the Rs 400 crore water tanker scam. Now, it’s more a personal attack targeted at Kejriwal, who, till now, had been viewed as above any kind of personal corruption. After Mishra’s allegation on Sunday that he witnessed Kejriwal allegedly accepted Rs 2 crore cash bribe from from Health and PWD Minister Satyender Jain, other AAP leaders have defended Kejriwal and rejected the allegation outright. Enlarging the battle beyond water tanker scam, Mishra urged Aam Aadmi Party leaders and volunteers, bureaucrats and the common man from all across the country to provide proof of corruption. Mishra said he has opened a new email account (letscleanaap@gmail.com), where one can send evidence and promises that the identify of the informants would remain secret. Reiterating the charges he had leveled earlier, Mishra—one of AAP’s founding members—is now attempting to shatter Kejriwal’s ‘holier-than-thou’ image. What did Kapil Mishra say at 5 pm? • I (Kapil Mishra) will hand over a sealed envelope containing evidence and documents that show Kejriwal’s corruption to Central Bureau of Investigation at 11.30 am Tuesday. I will also file an FIR. • Health and PWD Minister Satyender Jain brokered a 60-acre land deal at Chhatarpur Farms in Delhi of Rs 50 crore for Kejriwal’s brother-in-law. • Everyone in AAP knows that it is I who was vocal against BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies. • I will never join the BJP. I will remain in AAP. • There are no charges of corruption or cases booked against me. • At 7 pm, AAP’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting will take place to throw me out of the party. My sacking order will be taken behind the closed doors by four or five people. I will challenge this unilateral decision. • AAP volunteers from various states have been trying to contact me to inform me of the wrongdoings of the party. Volunteers from Punjab told me that “money, liquor and women” were used for ticket distribution by AAP leaders. Allegation against Kejriwal: Not for the first time The Congress on Monday wrote to Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal to demand the prosecution of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his ministers on the basis of the Shunglu committee report. The Shunglu committee in its report had mentioned “gross misuse of power” by the Kejriwal government. The committee headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) V K Shunglu reviewed 404 files of the Arvind Kejriwal-led government and alleged that there were irregularities with various appointments. The committee also raised questions on the appointment of Nikunj Agarwal, a relative of Kejriwal’s wife, as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the health minister. Kapil Mishra echoes Mayank Gandhi A day before the counting of votes in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi election, former AAP leader from Maharashtra Mayank Gandhi wrote a scathing open letter on his blog to Arvind Kejriwal. Recounting when he first met Kejriwal and how they bonded under the banner of Anna Hazare, Gandhi wrote: “Arvind, the unselfish hero who would never compromise, was dead. In his place was a politician who wanted to manipulate that support to fuel his ambition to become PM in 2019.” Finally, Gandhi questioned, “Do you have the strength, integrity and love for the country to genuinely reboot? With all humility, can I request you to let go of your arrogance and ego for the good of the country? Remember nation first, party next and individuals last. The country needs heroes. Are you one?” Echoing a similar sentiment, Mishra today said, “This is not that Arvind Kejriwal we knew, we worshipped and revered… The one I saw was the Kejriwal who accepted Rs 2 crore cash from Satyender Jain.” Ghost of tanker scam continues to haunt AAP leadership The ghost of water tanker scam resurfaced on Saturday, when Kejriwal sacked Mishra from his portfolio. On Sunday morning, Mishra alleged that he had been an eyewitness to a Rs 2 crore bribe taken by Kejriwal from his Health and PWD minister Satyendra Jain. A series of allegations and counter-allegations by Mishra and Kejriwal’s team has opened a can of worms. The tanker scam that AAP wanted to use against the Congress seems to have boomeranged. With water tanker scam on one hand, and fresh allegations leveled against him by Mishra on the other, Kejriwal undoubtedly has a tough time ahead of him. All you wanted to know about water tanker scam and its aftermath • After coming to power for the second time in 2015, the AAP government constituted a fact-finding committee to probe the alleged Rs 400 crore scam in which nearly 385 stainless steel water tankers were hired by Delhi Jal Board in 2012. The same took place during former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit’s regime • The five-member committee formed by the then water resources minister Kapil Mishra submitted its report to Kejriwal in August 2015. The report highlighted an alleged corruption to the tune of Rs 400 crore in awarding tenders to hire water tankers. • The committee recommended filing an FIR against Sheila Dikshit by the Central Bureau of Investigation and Delhi’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB). • Kapil Mishra had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the then Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, and recommended that either CBI or ACB should initiate an investigation against Sheila Dikshit. • Meanwhile, Delhi BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta had also filed a complaint with Najeeb Jung against Kejriwal, accusing the latter of allegedly suppressing the committee’s report. • On June 2016, the ACB filed an FIR against Kejriwal and Dikshit. • Kejriwal’s name was added in the FIR due to Vijender Gupta’s complaint.