'Arvind Kejriwal Said Such Things Happen': Sacked Minister On 'Cash Deal'

New Delhi: Delhi's sacked water minister Kapil Mishra triggered a political crisis for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party today, levelling corruption charges at Arvind Kejriwal. He alleged that he had seen the Chief Minister taking Rs 2 crore in cash from health minister Satyendra Jain - who also admitted to settling "land deals worth Rs 50 crore" on behalf of Mr Kejriwal's relatives. Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, he said, has been informed about this during their meeting this morning.

Mr Kejriwal, whose party had received a sweeping mandate in Delhi two years ago on an anti-corruption plank, had been told of multiple instances of corruption, including political funding in Punjab, Mr Mishra said. The response, he said he received, was "such things happen".

"There were times when I thought Kejriwal would take strict action, because we believed that Kejriwal is honest," Mr Mishra said. "We thought he would solve multiple issues... We believed he would act against four or five people who are corrupt in the party."

But on Friday, he said, he saw Mr Kejriwal himself accepting money and decided to raise his voice. "It was impossible to wait even for a day," he tweeted. "Where did the money come from? They must say what was done with the money," he added.

The explosive allegations came as AAP is still recovering from an internal feud that took founder-member Kumar Vishwas on the brink of quitting the party. The matter was resolved only after the suspension of Amanatullah Khan, the legislator who had levelled allegations of conspiracy against Mr Vishwas.  

Mr Mishra is considered close Mr Vishwas, who however, went to Mr Kejriwal's house to attend what is seen as a crisis-management meeting this morning. AAP has denied Mr Mishra's allegations, calling them "baseless".

"His allegations do not merit a response. He has been sacked due to poor performance," Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia told reporters. "The allegations are so absurd and there are no facts," he added.

Mr Mishra was removed yesterday, minutes after a series of tweets from him promised explosive revelations. Negating Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's explanation that "water management was not up to the mark, Mr Mishra said such a decision had been made because it was known that would "reveal big names". "The timing shows who's wrong," he added.