Sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra says he will reveal names of AAP leaders linked to water scam at Rajghat today

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kapil Mishra was on Saturday removed from the Delhi cabinet as its water and tourism minister in a reshuffle by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal following the party's rout in the civic elections.

However, within an hour of his removal, Mishra claimed that he would make a big expose on an alleged Rs 400 crore water tanker scam, details of which he had handed over to Kejriwal on Saturday morning.

In a series of tweets in Hindi late on Saturday evening, Mishra said he would release the same details he gave Kejriwal at 11:30 am on Sunday at Rajghat, claiming he was clean and that he would not budge from the party.

Mishra further said he would reveal names of AAP leaders he alleges are part of the scam.

 

Mishra claimed that his removal was done without his knowledge, while AAP said the minister's removal had to do with his department's performance.

"Water management was not up to the mark and Kapil Mishra made a lot of effort but the CM decided to bring in Kailash Gahlot in his place," deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia told news agency ANI on Saturday. 

A senior official said the decision to remove Mishra, who was holding the post since AAP came to power in February 2015, was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Kejriwal.

"I was not informed of the decision and as per my knowledge, it was taken



unilaterally by Kejriwal. The cabinet or the Political Affairs Committee (the AAP's top decision-making body) was not involved," Mishra said .

Earlier in the day, Mishra wrote a letter to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), demanding swift investigation into the tanker scam.

Mishra, who was on July 4, 2016, questioned for two hours by the ACB officials, in his letter addressed to special commissioner of police MK Meena, said, "So much time has passed and questioning of Sheila Dikshit (former Delhi chief minister) or any progress in the probe has not come to my knowledge. This is a grave issue and the people of Delhi want the truth as soon as possible."

The AAP government, in June 2015, set up a five-member fact-finding committee to probe alleged irregularities in the water tankers case.The committee report, submitted to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in August 2015, highlighted alleged corruption in the awarding of tenders. It had recommended registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Dikshit and a probe by the CBI and the ACB.

On June 20, the ACB registered an FIR not only against Dikshit but also against Kejriwal. The FIR against Kejriwal was registered on a complaint by leader of opposition in Delhi assembly and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Vijender Gupta "for causing delay in the probe and not cancelling the contract for water tankers".