Tiwari asks Kejriwal to resign, as Mishra appears before Lokayukta

Soon after sacked Water Minister Kapil Mishra on Thursday got his statement recorded with the Lokayukta of Delhi, the BJP demanded Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's resignation over corruption charges.

"If Kejriwal has any respect for an institution like the Lokayukta, he should resign as Chief Minister to ensure a fair investigation after evidence has been submitted on oath (by Mishra)," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Delhi unit President Manoj Tiwari told the media here.

He said Kejriwal and Health Minister Satyendar Jain will not be able to defend themselves legally since as per the law no person can keep more than Rs 2 lakh in cash.

Tiwari said India Against Corruption movement and the Aam Aadmi Party under Kejriwal had been demanding the Lokayukta and Lokpal in Delhi and the country respectively.

The BJP leader's demand came after Mishra got recorded his statement with the Lokayukta -- Justice Reva Khetrapal (retd) -- against Kejriwal and Jain. Justice Khetrapal is a former Delhi High Court judge.

Mishra, who was sacked as Minister on May 6 and subsequently suspended from the AAP, appeared as a witness in connection with a petition filed before the Delhi Lokayukta and said the Chief Minister had taken Rs 2 crore from Jain in his presence.

The suspended AAP leader claimed Kejriwal's deceased brother-in-law Surender Kumar Bansal's company submitted forged bills of Rs 10 crore to the Public Works Department, which were cleared. An FIR has since been filed by the Anti-Corruption Branch in the case.

Mishra said before the Lokayukta that AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Ashish Khetan, Satyendar Jain, Raghav Chadha, and Durgesh Pathak met anti-India elements during their official and private foreign tours.

Tiwari said: "Resigning during his first 49-day government and connecting it to the demand for Lokayukta, Kejriwal has shown he can go to any extent to end corruption in politics, transparency in government and appointment of the Lokayukta."

"But now, it is a different matter that after returning to power in 2015, Kejriwal delayed the setting up of Lokayukta for a long time," he said, adding that even after pressure from the BJP and the Delhi High Court's intervention he delayed the appointment of Lokayukta.

Tiwari claimed that on one hand charges of corruption against Kejriwal are being established in the real sense and on the other the black deeds of his colleagues are increasing day by day.

"Four days ago, Pankaj Garg, a nephew of AAP MLA Vijender Garg from Rajender Nagar, was arrested on charge of betting in IPL (Indian Premiere League) cricket. On Wednesday, his Vikaspuri MLA Mahender Yadav was booked for threatening a contractor with death and attacking him with bricks," Tiwari added.

--IANS

aks/tsb/vt