Kejriwal asks Modi to oust Sushma from cabinet

Says Modi too must act against his ministers the way he did vis-a-vis Tomar

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj following allegations of impropriety against her.

Speaking on the arrest of his former law minister Jitender Singh Tomar, Kejriwal told the Delhi assembly that Modi too must act against his ministers the way he did vis-a-vis Tomar.

"We removed Tomar from the cabinet when he was arrested," the chief minister said, after one of the only three BJP legislators, O.P. Sharma, created a din over the arrest and jailing of Tomar.
 

As Kejriwal remained unruffled, the legislator was forced out of the house by marshals. He returned to the house later.

Kejriwal compared the Tomar development with the demands now being raised for External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's resignation.

Modi, Kejriwal said, should take a cue from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Saying Tomar had misled him over the genuineness of his allegedly fake law degree, Kejriwal said Modi too had been misled by his cabinet colleagues, and mentioned Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje by name.

"His cabinet ministers have also misled him... He should remove Sushma Swaraj from the cabinet," the chief minister said.

He also demanded an independent investigation into charges that both the Rajasthan chief minister and the foreign minister helped former IPL chief Lalit Modi who fled India.

On Tomar, Kejriwal said that when it began to be alleged that the AAP minister held a fake law degree, he felt the then law minister had done no wrong.

"But after he (Tomar) was arrested and sent to police custody, it seems to me that I was kept in the dark (by him)."

Kejriwal insisted that the AAP stood for "a honest system" and "honest politics". "We will not tolerate any wrongdoing."

Tuesday was the first day of the budget session.