Will Seek Arvind Kejriwal’s Ouster if Charges Are Proved: Anna Hazare

Veteran Indian social activist Anna Hazare. (File photo/Reuters)

Mumbai: Social activist Anna Hazare on Tuesday said he would sit on an agitation to demand the resignation of Arvind Kejriwal if the allegations of corruption against the Delhi chief minister were proved.

Hazare, however, also pointed out that former Delhi minister Kapil Mishra made the allegations of graft against Kejriwal only after he was sacked from the AAP dispensation.

“Whatever the former minister has said against Kejriwal, he said it only after his removal. If he was the minister when the alleged money exchange took place, why did not he alert the authorities?” the anti-corruption crusader asked.

“I think there should be a thorough investigation in this case. If Kejriwal is found guilty then I will personally sit on an agitation at Jantar Mantar and demand his resignation,” Hazare said at his residence in Ralegan Siddhi village of Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district.

The activist had earlier said he was pained to see Kejriwal, his “former colleague in the anti-corruption
crusade”, facing allegations of accepting money.

Mishra had on Sunday accused Kejriwal of taking Rs two crore from a Cabinet colleague, a charge refuted by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

The allegation by Mishra, who was sacked from the AAP dispensation on Saturday night, came amid growing rumblings in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Mishra on Tuesday filed three complaints with the CBI against Kejriwal, minister Satyendar Jain and AAP leaders who allegedly misused party funds on foreign trips.

The Karawal Nagar MLA, who was yesterday suspended from primary membership of the AAP, also threatened to launch a hunger strike tomorrow if details of foreign visits by five AAP leaders are not made public by the party.

Mishra said he filed complaints with the CBI over the exchange of Rs 2 crore between Jain and Kejriwal, a Rs 50 crore land deal arranged for the CM’s brother-in-law and five AAP leaders allegedly misusing party funds on foreign trips.