AAP suspends Mishra from party for 'smear campaign' against Kejriwal

On a day of high political drama, the Aam Aadmi Party on Monday evening suspended Kapil Mishra from the party's primary membership.

The decision was taken by its high-powered Political Affairs Committee (PAC) chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

"Mishra has been suspended from the party's primary membership," a source present at the ongoing meeting said.

The decision comes a day after Mishra levelled allegations that Kejriwal had taken Rs 2 crore in cash from Delhi minister Satyender Jain.

Mishra was removed from the post of water minister on May 6.

Earlier on Tuesday Mishra had dared the party to sack him even as he fired a fresh salvo at Kejriwal, alleging that a Rs 50 crore deal was made for the AAP chief's brother-in-law.

He also submitted documents to the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) against Kejriwal in connection with the water tanker scam and said he has sought an appointment with the CBI on Tuesday to register a complaint.

Mishra, also demanded a lie detector on his allegations that he was an eyewitness to the Rs 2 crore exchanging hands between Kejriwal and Jain. He said that a lie detector test be conducted on all three.

The ousted AAP minister further said that he has sought an appointment with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday in connection with the Rs 2 crore allegations.

The Opposition parties including the BJP and Congress upped the ante on Monday renewing their call for Kejriwal to step down from the chief minister's post.

Earlier on Monday, the Aam Aadmi Party alleged that a big conspiracy was being hatched against it by the BJP through sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra. The AAP said that Mishra was making "baseless" allegations against chief minister Arvind Kejriwal "out of desperation" after being expelled.

The AAP remarks came after Mishra submitted documents to the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) to back his allegations that Kejriwal had delayed the probe into a Rs 400 crore tanker scam.

Hitting out at the AAP legislator over his allegations of corruption against Kejriwal, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said Mishra had himself written a letter to the ACB in September last year, saying that under pressure, the anti-graft body was trying to implicate the chief minister in the water tanker scam. "A game of exploitation is being played against the AAP. The BJP is hatching a conspiracy against the AAP through Mishra," Singh told reporters here.

Singh claimed that Mishra was repeating what the BJP had been trying to allege in connection with the water tanker scam.

"Mishra's allegations are laughable. I want to ask him if Kejriwal had called him up before accepting the 'bribe'," he said referring to the sacked minister's claims that PWD Minister Satyender Jain had allegedly handed over of Rs 2 crore to the AAP supremo.

At the press conference, the AAP showed a letter written by Mishra to the ACB in 2016 saying the agency was trying to target Kejriwal in the alleged water tanker scam even when his name was not mentioned anywhere in the evidence. Singh accused Mishra speaking the BJP's language, adding that "AAP can never compromise with corruption. And now they are accusing us".

Meanwhile in a late night tweet Kejriwal said: "Truth will triumph, its beginning will be made during Tuesday's special session of the Delhi Assembly."