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Mishra on hunger strike; BJP-RSS script, says AAP
Sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra started an indefinite hunger strike, demanding that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) divulge details of foreign tours undertaken by five leaders of the party which, in turn, accused him of following a script penned by the BJP.
New Delhi
Mishra, who was removed as a minister and expelled from the party, shot off a letter to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, asking how the leaders had made these trips despite the party's "fund crisis".
Mishra, who kicked up a storm when he said he had seen Kejriwal "accept Rs 2 crore in cash" from PWD Minister Satyendra Jain, had yesterday submitted three complaints to the CBI about AAP leaders indulging in graft and other irregularities.
The Karawal Nagar MLA said he would drink only water as part of his "Satyagraha" till the tour details were made public. He sat on the dharna at his official residence, with a photograph of Mahatma Gandhi in the backdrop.
In the evening, a man claiming to be an AAP worker allegedly attacked Mishra at the protest site. The AAP, however, said the man was not affiliated to the party.
"The guy came running, put his hands on my neck and said he would kill me. My aides caught hold of him and the police came and whisked him away," Mishra said.
He claimed the people would "topple" the Kejriwal government if the details of foreign trips by Minister Jain, senior leader Sanjay Singh, party treasurer Raghav Chadha, youth leader Durgesh Pathak and journalist-turned-politician Ashish Khetan were made public.
"I am not demanding anyones resignation. I only want details of the foreign trips made by these five people. We were always told there was no money to fight polls then how did these people go on foreign trips," Mishra asked.
Singh and Chadha trashed the allegations. Khetan did so in a roundabout way while Durgesh and Jain did not respond to Mishras charges.
"I visited Canada and US for party work. I had gone to Russia with Ashutosh (party leader) for a wedding. My Nepal trip was for relief work in the aftermath of the earthquake there. The language he (Mishra) is speaking is of the RSS and BJP," Singh said.
Meanwhile, in a series of tweets, Chadha said: "My foreign travels whilst in public life or prior to that have never been funded by the Central Govt, Delhi Govt or AAP. Probity, propriety and integrity are the hallmarks of political life, which I take very seriously. I will not respond to ridiculous allegations stemming from compromised individuals."
Khetan, who also took to Twitter, said: "I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it."
Mishra, whose mother is a former BJP mayor, said instead of tagging him as a "BJP agent", the AAP should come up with specific answers.
He said he would record a "detailed" statement on the Rs 400-crore tanker scam in the Delhi Jal Board with the Anti-Corruption Branch tomorrow.
The AAP government had in June 2015 set up a fact-finding committee to look into alleged irregularities in procuring around 385 stainless steel water tankers by the DJB.
In June last year, it sent the panels report to then Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, following which an FIR was registered in the matter.
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