Kapil Mishra – Ex-Delhi Cabinet Minister, Aam Aadmi Party leader and MLA from Karawal Nagar constituency in the Delhi Assembly, was certainly the newsmaker of the day. In an explosive press conference that he dramatically staged at the Raj Ghat, the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi, Kapil Mishra claimed that he witnessed illegal cash changing hands. He alleged that Delhi Health Minister paid an amount of Rs. 2 Crore to Delhi Chief and AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal. As per Mishra, he was offered no explanations when he questioned about the money. And it was his ‘conscience’ that drove him to expose the sinners in his party, including the party’s founder and prime face.
Let us wind our clocks back to 2015, when a spirited AAP humbled BJP in Delhi Assembly elections. Kapil Mishra was originally appointed as the minister for law, tourism, water, art and culture and Gurdwara Elections. After Jitender Singh Tomar resigned following his arrest on charges of faking educational certificates, Kapil Mishra was appointed the Law Minister of Delhi. But barely two months after he was appointed the Delhi Law Minister, Mishra was relieved of the portfolio by CM Kejriwal. AAP’s justification for the move was dubious at best at that time. Gopal Rai, senior AAP leader stated, that Kapil Mishra’s tenure as the DJB chairman was exceptional hence he was relieved of the law portfolio to help him focus more on solving Delhi’s water woes. Another version of the story was that many in the AAP felt that a senior minister was required to handle the law portfolio as Mishra – who joined Kejriwal’s Cabinet after Tomar’s exit – was “still very new”. No one talked about the real reason.
The then Delhi BJP President Satish Upadhyay however hinted at a sinister political ploy behind the Cabinet reshuffle at that time and claimed that Mishra had indicated that the DJB tanker scam inquiry is complete and he had solid proofs against Sheila Dixit Government. Upadhyay termed the ‘ouster’ of Kapil Mishra, a clear proof to indicate the nexus between Arvind Kejriwal and the Congress party.
Now it’s 2017 of course and Kejriwal has removed Kapil Mishra as the water and tourism minister. And Kapil Mishra, unlike last time, has chosen to speak. However, it appears ambition driven rather than conscience driven. Because had it been conscience driven, he wouldn’t have chosen to keep quiet despite being an eye-witness to a corruption scandal.
This Kapil Mishra Arvind Kejriwal drama, however hints at three very interesting points:
- This is the first direct allegation against Arvind Kejriwal, that too by an important member of the party
Contrary to its claims, Aam Aadmi Party has never been a clean and honest party. One of the first controversies that hit AAP was when Delhi police detained Jitendra Tomar based on a criminal complaint filed by the Bar Council of Delhi over his fake degree. Another AAP Legislator Somnath Bharti’s anticipatory bail plea was rejected by Delhi High Court and judge accused the former Delhi law minister of being violent and outrageous not only at home but also before the public at large”. Another AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan allegedly instructed a young man to threaten a woman with rape and murder for ‘politicising” the issue of power cuts in the capital. AAP MP Bhagwant Mann made a short film on the procedure of ‘Selection of Questions for Zero Hour’ and was suspended from Lok Sabha for some time. AAP Ad and PR budgets were pegged at a whopping 200 crore rupees.
As we see AAP is marred with corruption and malpractices but there were no personal corruption charges on Arvind Kejriwal. In that respect, this accusation is truly a game changer as this time Arvind Kejriwal is the prime suspect.
- Satyendra Jain is possibly a very corrupt man
In almost every corruption case connected with the Aam Aadmi Party, Delhi Health Minister is almost always mentioned. He allegedly appointed his daughter as “mission director” of Delhi State Health Mission. She was paid a salary of 1.15Lakhs per month during her tenure as the advisor. Jain’s Mohalla Clinics were found to be treating patients in 30 seconds or less. Nikunj Agarwal, a relative of CM Arvind Kejriwal was appointed as an Officer on special duty to Jain. There were CBI raids on Jain’s office too. All of these cannot be mere coincidences. After Kapil Mishra’s big disclose about Satyendra Jain handing over Rs 2 crore to Delhi CM Kejriwal, it does seem that Jain is a man of questionable scruples.
- This could be a Kumar Vishwas coup
Aam Aadmi Party is a 1 man fiefdom. Those who revolt are evicted from the party and very publicly so. Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan are textbook cases of it. But when Kumar Vishwas revolted Arvind Kejriwal showed extraordinary humility. He was not only retained, but as a part of the compromise, AAP expelled Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan who had called Vishwas a BJP stooge. Kejriwal even handed over the reins of the Rajasthan Party Unit to Kumar Vishwas. Such extraordinary grace is possible only when the other party has men, money and might on its side.
As per some reports, Kumar Vishwas has about 30 MLAs in his fold, Kapil Mishra being one of them. In case of his eviction, the party will be split right in the middle and the Delhi Assembly will topple down. Kapil Mishra’s big expose about Sisodia, Jain and Kejriwal could be Vishwas’s way of taking over AAP. Politics is a ruthless game after all.