Sunday 17 / November / 2024
New Delhi: Sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra on Sunday fainted after accusing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of "massive" financial irregularities.
"It has now become clear that Arvind Kejriwal is a corrupt man," Mishra said before he swooned, apparently weakened by five days of fasting in protest against AAP's refusal to disclose details of five leaders' travels abroad.
Mishra told the media at his residence that AAP had received "crores of rupees" from "shell companies" run by people close to Kejriwal, mentioning AAP legislators Shiv Charan Goel and Naresh Yadav. He said there were discrepancies in the money received by AAP and the amount it declared before the Election Commission.
The party refuted Mishra's charges and said he was "parroting" the Bharatiya Janata Party. Mishra demanded Kejriwal's resignation. If he didn't step down, the former water minister said he would "drag" the chief minister by his "collar" and take him to Tihar jail.
Mishra fainted before he could share with the media documents he said proved his charges. He was taken to the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital here, where doctors said he was stable and conscious, but suffered from a "a little weakness and mild dehydration". "His vitals are all normal," an RML doctor said.
Earlier, referring to one of the cases of alleged discrepancies, Mishra said AAP received Rs9 million as donation from a person identified as Priya Bansal of Bengaluru for 2014-15 and 2015-16, but the tax payable on her income was merely Rs4,000.
"In 2014-15, AAP had Rs655 million) in its bank account, but the Election Commission was informed about only Rs324 million while the party put only Rs273 million in the public domain and told its volunteers it had no money," Mishra said.
He also held that the party had made 461 "bogus" entries. "All this happened with the knowledge of Arvind Kejriwal as these shell companies deposited money in AAP's bank account on the same day and time in January 2014," Mishra said, brandishing a sheaf of documents. Mishra was accompanied at the meet by a man identified as Neil Haslam, who he said helped in "exposing" the funding.
"This is why I have been demanding foreign travel details of five AAP leaders," Mishra said. Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said Mishra has been echoing the allegations that the BJP voiced just before the 2015 Assembly polls.
"This is the BJP's ploy to finish AAP. It should stop questioning the credentials of AAP and Arvind Kejriwal as we have ensured all transparency while accepting funds," Singh said. On May 7, Mishra had claimed that he had seen Health Minister Satyendar Jain pay Rs20 million to Kejriwal.
