Kapil Mishra sat on a hunger strike demanding that AAP reveal details of foreign trips by leaders.
Kapil Mishra, sacked as minister by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, has begun a hunger strike this morning demanding that the Aam Aadmi Party reveal details of foreign trips made by five of its top leaders. Mr Mishra is sitting under a tent pitched at his residence in Delhi's Civil Lines, with a garlanded photograph of Mahatma Gandhi behind him, and has called his protest a
satyagrah or "peaceful agitation."
Mr Mishra, who was suspended by AAP earlier this week after
he accused Arvind Kejriwal of corruption, has written a letter to his former boss that he tweeted this morning, naming the five leaders - including a minister Satyendar Jain and senior leaders Ashish Khetan and Sanjay Singh - whose trips he wants investigated. "I have just requested that details of the foreign travel in the last two years of 5 people be made public... This will clear all things... I don't want a big thing, this is just a small thing," Mr Mishra has written.
He has said he will survive on water till Mr Kejriwal makes the details public. " Some people say that all allegations about money laundering and donations will be settled if these details are revealed...You have said the party doesn't have money to fight elections...Show where all the money for foreign trips comes from and prove me wrong," Mr Mishra said, asserting that once the details are revealed, "The Chief Minister will be forced to resign."
He also alleged that he received a phone call from abroad threatening to "shoot me."
Yesterday,
Kapil Mishra went to the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI with large yellow envelopes that he said contained proof of his allegations against AAP and Mr Kejriwal. He said the envelopes contained his statements, but did not clarify whether that was all he had to show for his charges, among them that he witnessed Mr Kejriwal being handed Rs 2 crore in bribe money by Satyendar Jain.
He has also alleged that "Mr Jain benefited close relatives of Mr Kejriwal in illegal land deals."
The CBI has said it will verify and examine Mr Mishra's allegation.
The Aam Aadmi Party has rubbished what it called the "wild and baseless allegations" of Kapil Mishra, who also said today that an attempt to portray him as a "BJP agent" will not wash. "Why are you calling me that now, why not earlier," he said.
The former minister, who remains a legislator was present in the Delhi assembly yesterday when
AAP staged a live demo of hacking a machine that it said was a "replica" of the electronic voting machines or EVMs used by the Election Commission.
Mr Mishra said AAP's attempt to prove that EVMs can be rigged was a "diversionary tactic" to draw away attention from his allegations.