‘EVEN ENEMIES WON’T BELIEVE KEJRIWAL IS CORRUPT’

Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas came out in support of Arvind Kejriwal and said that even the Delhi chief minister’s enemies will not believe the charges of corruption against him.

Vishwas, who recently had a tussle with Kejriwal, was not the only one supporting the CM. Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, former AAP leaders who fell out and went on to form another political party — Swaraj Indi — said the charge of corruption needs solid evidence.

“I might agree with charges of power greed, arrogance, authoritarianism against Kejriwal, but charge of taking bribe need solid evidence,” he Yadav.

Vishwas’ statement came within hours of Kapil Mishra, who was sacked on Saturday as the water minister, alleging that Kejriwal received Rs 2 crore from health minister Satyendar Jain.

“Within the party, we can have arguments and disagreements on various issues with each other. I know Arvind Kejriwal for 12 years and after having worked with him for so long, I can say that I can’t even think Arvind Kejriwal will be corrupt or take a bribe. Even his enemies won’t believe this,” he said.

Vishwas said he has called Jain to explain his position to the political affairs committee (PAC) over allegations of corruption.

“Kejriwal has said this 100 times that he should be removed if he is corrupt. I have called Satyendra Jain and asked him to explain his position in the PAC on whether he is being framed or has there been a mistake. We are ready for a probe, be it Enforcement Directorate or CBI,” he said.

Vishwas and Kejriwal recently hit a bump when MLA Amanatullah Khan accused Vishwas of being a BJP agent. Vishwas had criticised the party over the rout in municipal elections and called for introspection.

However, Kejriwal suspended Khan from AAP and made Vishwas in-charge of Rajasthan. In a late night drama, Kejriwal even visited Vishwas’ residence to convince him not to leave the party.

Mishra is considered close to Vishwas and fully supported the latter during the controversy, seeking disciplinary action against Khan.

MLAs including Alka Lamba, Adarsh Shastri, and Somnath Bharti, who had backed Vishwas’s position on party’s need to introspect in the wake of poll defeats, rallied behind Kejriwal on a day Mishra questioned his financial probity.