File photo of Manish Sisodia and Kapil Mishra

NEW DELHI: The uneasy truce achieved in the very public display of infighting in Aam Aadmi Party is seen to be collapsing. Chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal put his very vocal minister, Kapil Mishra , on the mat on Saturday by stripping him of his portfolios and post as minister.

While deputy CM Manish Sisodia cited mismanagement in water supply and billing as the reason, Mishra, in a series of tweets, indicated that the real reason was his persistent demand for action in the tanker scam. Claiming that he had met the CM over the delay in the tanker scam report, he said he had “explosive details” which he would make public on Sunday.

Mishra’s ouster is being seen as a fallout of the recent turmoil within the party, in the wake of its electoral losses. It came days after he had suggested that Kejriwal should focus on governance and let someone like Kumar Vishwas handle the job of the party’s national convenor. He had also demanded that Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan, who had accused Vishwas of plotting against Kejriwal, should be thrown out of the party.

While the CM had reached out to Vishwas by appointing him in-charge of Rajasthan and indulged him by forcing Khan to quit the PAC and then suspending him from the party till an inquiry had been conducted, few believed it was the end of the matter. Mishra, however, told TOI that “maybe this (his removal) has to do with the tanker scam that I have unearthed.”

Najafgarh MLA Kailash Gahlot will replace Mishra. Also, the long vacant post of a minister, since Sultanpuri MLA Sandeep Kumar was removed, has gone to MLA Rajendra Gautam, who represents Seemapuri, a reserved constituency for SC. Both are first-time MLAs and lawyers and are learnt to have gained Kejriwal’s trust. The portfolios have not yet been allocated and some reshuffling of work may happen in the coming days.

After Kejriwal’s decision was announced, Kumar Vishwas reacted by tweeting: “I assure party workers and the country that we will continue to fight against corruption both inside and outside, no matter what the consequences. Bharat mata ki jai”. Interestingly, he also tweeted a couplet that translates as -- “If you are indeed the friend you claim to be, then why do you have a dagger in your hand; and if you are a rival, then how I am still alive.” He also retweeted Mishra’s tweet earlier in the day announcing he had written to ACB asking why no action had been taken against Sheila Dikshit in the tanker scam so far.

Even as Mishra claimed that he had no plans to leave the party, his rebellion was evident from his tweets aimed at the Kejriwal government. “I am the only minister with no corruption charges, no CBI inquiry against me. Kisi beti rishteydaar ko pad nahin diya. Sheila ka bhrashtachar khola.” He was seen to be referring to the health and PWD minister, Satyendra Jain, who is facing a CBI inquiry and had appointed his architect daughter on an important committee on health and sent her to IIM Ahmedabad for a course meant for hospital administrators. Also, Kejriwal had come under fire over the appointment of Nikunj Garg as OSD to Jain. Garg was said to be a distant relative of Kejriwal.

Mishra, who became minister in Kejriwal’s cabinet on June 15, 2015, was currently holding charge of department of tourism, art and culture, languages and gurdwara elections. He was also chairman of the very critical portfolio of Delhi Jal Board . He had grown to be a strong voice within the cabinet and was seen to be trusted by Kejriwal.

However, soon after the municipal polls, Mishra issued a video message rejecting the singular attack on EVMs for AAP’s poll debacles . He had sought “introspection”. This soon got amplified with Vishwas giving interviews to TV channels observing “AAP was becoming a Congress” and “decisions were being taken behind closed doors”. In the midst of all this, Kejriwal -- who was holding meetings with MLAs -- decided to issue a message to people, accepting the “mistakes” made and promising to go back to the drawing board and return to the grassroots.

Khan’s attack on Vishwas proved to be the catalyst for a major crisis. He had alleged that Vishwas was trying to get MLAs on his side so that he could take over as national convener or else they could join the BJP and that the latter was willing to give each MLA Rs 30 crores. Khan also alleged that meetings were held at the house of a Delhi minister. Mishra’s name started cropping up and he hit back by demanding Khan’s expulsion.

On Saturday evening Kejriwal met his MLAs and soon after Mishra’s removal was announced. Sisodia said, “Water management was not up to the mark. Kapil Mishra made a lot of effort. CM decided to bring in Kailash Gahlot in his place.”



In Video: Delhi govt rejig: Kapil Mishra removed from Arvind Kejriwal’s cabinet