Delhi Minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain on Monday categorically rejected sacked Minister Kapil Mishra’s allegation of Chief Minister Kejriwal taking Rs 2 crore
in cash from the former, saying the ousted Minister has lost his “mental balance” and is making baseless allegations.
“There is a limit to lying. I wasn’t even present at CM’s residence on Friday and I can prove it in many ways. He (Mishra) has lost mental balance and making baseless allegations. Show us papers or proof if the allegations are true,” Jain said.
Kejriwal also broke his silence over corruption charges levelled by Mishra. “Truth will prevail and its beginning
will be made in the Special Assembly Session on Tuesday,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, the AAP suspended Mishra from primary membership of party.
The decision was taken at AAP’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) after a meeting at Chief Minister Kejriwal’s residence.
Defending Kejriwal, Jain said, “He (Mishra) is making corruption allegation against Arvind Kejriwal, perhaps one of the most honest politicians, we know of.
He is accusing Kejriwal of indulging in corruption, whose honesty has attracted thousands of workers to join him.
“If he (Mishra) has proof, he should show the documents. He should go to anti-graft bodies, why is he
going to the mediaIJ This is just an attempt to distract and threaten.”
Mishra, who was summarily removed from the post of Water Minister on Saturday night, had on Sunday accused Kejriwal of taking Rs 2 crore in cash from Jain. “I saw with my own eyes Jain giving Rs 2 crore to Kejriwal at his residence,” he had said.
Mishra has also alleged that Kejriwal had delayed the probe into a Rs 400 crore
tanker scam, and submitted documents to the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) to back his claim.
Earlier in the day, the AAP alleged that “a big conspiracy was hatched against it by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).” through Mishra and said Kejriwal would not resign over the “baseless allegations”.
In a Press conference at party headquarters, AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Ashutosh and party spokesperson Dilip Pandey called Mishra’s allegations “baseless” saying that he did it “out of desperation” after being removed from the Cabinet.
Hitting out at Mishra, who submitted documents to the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) to back his claim that Kejriwal had delayed the probe into a Rs 400 crore tanker scam, Singh said Mishra had himself written to a letter to the ACB in September last year, saying that under pressure, the anti-graft body was trying to implicate the Chief Minister in the water tanker scam.
The AAP leaders also showed a copy of the letter written by Mishra to the ACB in September 2016 saying the agency was trying to target Kejriwal in the alleged water tanker scam by coming “under pressure” from the Centre and even when his name was not mentioned anywhere in the evidence.
Singh accused Mishra of speaking the BJP’s language. “A game of exploitation is being played against the AAP. The BJP is hatching a conspiracy against the AAP through Mishra,” Singh said.
Singh claimed that Mishra was stating what the BJP had been repeatedly trying to allege in connection with the water tanker scam. “Mishra’s allegations are laughable. Why isn’t he telling us the time and date of visiting Kejriwal’s houseIJ He is implying that Kejriwal himself invited him to be a witness of him taking a bribe from Satyendar Jain. He is also claiming of an alleged land deal, if so, why isn’t he revealing itIJ I want to ask him if Kejriwal had called him up before accepting the ‘bribe’,” he said
Asserting that AAP can never compromise with corruption, Singh said, “The BJP and the Congress are treating Mishra as Harishchandra...He is the same person who had called Modi an ‘ISI agent’.”
He said that there were more serious issues like terrorism and the recent Sukma attack on the Indian Army but instead of resolving them the BJP was only “focusing on eradicating the AAP.”