Arvind Kejriwal has more enemies than friends. Kapil Mishra was once a friend. He was the water resources minister until he was sacked on Saturday. And on Sunday he dropped a bombshell when he accused Kejriwal of accepting Rs 2 crore from Satyendra Jain, another minister in the government. Mishra said Jain had told him that he had settled a land deal in favour of a relative of the chief minister for Rs 50 crore. The result: a political storm.
Our question to Mishra is simple and straight-forward: If you were a witness to the deal why did you reveal the matter only after being sacked as minister? Does this not make you party to the deal? Mishra has not provided any details of how the money exchanged hands. Rs 2 crore is not a sum that one pulls out of one’s wallet and hands it over to another. It is a considerable amount of cash and it would require a very strong man to lift it and hand it over. What we would also like to know is the date of the transaction because if it was made prior to demonetization then the volume of cash is even larger. To put the amount in perspective, Rs 2 crore of cash would comprise 2,000 bundles of Rs 100 denomination.
Mishra is a politician who has just lost his ministership. The ostensible reason for the change in his fortunes is that he was not competent. As far as motives go he has a very strong one to discredit Kejriwal. Also by turning the attention on Kejriwal he has avoided being questioned by the media on why he got the boot. It is a clever political stunt, but knowing that everyone, from Narendra Modi to elements in the Congress, are baying for Kejriwal’s blood, this controversy is not going to go away in a hurry.
The demand for an inquiry or dismissal of the AAP government on the basis of a statement, a doubtful one, made by Mishra is ridiculous, to say the least. Mishra will have to provide evidence to show that the exchange of money took place. He will also have to prove that the money came from a land deal involving the chief minister. Until then, there is no smoking gun.
Kejriwal isn’t your everyday leader. He emerged as a leader from the cradle of an anti-corruption movement. He successfully converted that movement into a political party and won an election. Kejriwal might be accused of shooting his mouth off. One can point a finger at him for not being an effective chief minister. He can be accused of trying to expand the AAP base too quickly. But it would take more than a statement from a disgruntled ex-minister to convince one that Kerjirwal is corrupt. He is innocent until proven guilty.
