Sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra swoons after attacking AAP

Kapil Mishra being taken to a hospital after he fainted during a press conference

Dismissed Delhi minister Kapil Mishra fainted at a press meet on Sunday 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” him by his “collar” and “lock him up” in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. “It has now become clear that Kejriwal is a corrupt man,” Mishra said before he swooned, apparently weakened by five days of fasting in protest against the AAP’s refusal to disclose details of five party leaders’ travels abroad.

Mishra said the 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 firms had “ghost” directors who donated money to the party and converted “black money into white”. There were discrepancies in the money received by the AAP and the amount it declared before the Election Commission, he said. 

The party refuted Mishra’s charges and said he was “parroting” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In another press meet, 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 Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where doctors said he was stable and conscious, but suffered from a “little weakness and mild dehydration”.

“His vital signs are all normal,” a doctor said.

Earlier, referring to one of the cases of alleged discrepancies, Mishra said the 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 4,000.

“In 2014-15, the 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). 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 the party had made 461 “bogus” entries.

“All this happened with the knowledge of Arvind Kejriwal as these shell companies deposited money in the AAP’s bank account on the same day and time in January 2014,” Mishra said, brandishing a sheaf of documents.

Mishra was accompanied at the meet by a man identified as Neil Haslam, who he said helped in “exposing” the funding. “This is why I have been demanding foreign travel details of five AAP leaders,” Mishra said.

He added he would approach the CBI on Monday with documents and would soon expose another “scam” related to the AAP’s mohalla or health clinics.