NEW DELHI, May 14:
Sacked Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra fainted at a media conference today but not before he had accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of “massive” financial irregularities.
Mishra demanded Kejriwal’s resignation and said if he didn’t step down, the former Water Minister would “drag” the Chief Minister by his “collar” and “lock him up” in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
“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 party 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 in particular AAP legislators Shiv Charan Goel and Naresh Yadav.
These shell companies, Mishra alleged, also had “ghost” directors who donated money to the party and converted “black money into white”.
He said there were also 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.
In another press conference, AAP MLAs Goel and Yadav denied links with the entities named by Mishra and said they would file a defamation suit against him.
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 vital signs are all normal,” an RML doctor said.
Earlier, referring to one of the cases of alleged discrepancies, Mishra said AAP received Rs 90 lakh 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 Rs 4000.
“In 2014-15, AAP had Rs 65,52,40,752 (Rs 65.5 crore) in its bank account, but the Election Commission was informed about only Rs 32,46,16,662 (Rs 32.4 crore) while the party put only Rs 27,38,71,611 (Rs 27.3 crore) 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.(PTI)
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