As the fake degree controversy has taken severe toll on the image of the AAP and the Kejriwal Government, the party is contemplating to sack Jitender Singh Tomar. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is understood to be very “upset” over the entire fracas, and several other senior leaders of the party believe that Tomar “misled” them on the issue.
Kejriwal is also said to be contemplating to withdraw the services of its legal cell head HS Phoolka as Tomar’s lawyer but it could not be immediately confirmed as Phoolka is in london. “Arvind (Kejriwal) is very upset. He (Tomar) was given a fair opportunity. He produced certain documents and RTIs and tried convincing everybody. But then you cannot keep lying,” a senior AAP leader said.
“We have zero tolerance on such issues. The general feeling is that he tried to mislead the party. There’s a possibility of his expulsion from the party,” said the AAP leader. Sources in the party said that the issue has been referred to the AAP’s internal lokpal and action would be taken after the body submits its report. The body comprises former IPS officer N Dilip Kumar, former DG CISF Rakesh Sinha and educationist SP Verma.
Party sources said when the issue of his graduation degree cropped up, AAP also found out that the matter was a bit “fishy”. “When we asked him to come clean on the whole issue, he said it was a political conspiracy against him. We saw his degrees and it appeared to be genuine. We also gave him the benefit of doubt. Now the issue of his graduation degree has cropped up. We have also got information from different sources about his degree. This has landed the party in a soup,” said another senior party leader.