Kejriwal's graft axe falls on minister

New Delhi, Oct. 9: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal today sacked a cabinet minister over corruption allegations, making the announcement at a news conference and daring the BJP to take similar action against its leaders accused of wrongdoing.

Kejriwal also announced a CBI probe into allegations that food and civil supplies minister Asim Ahmed Khan had demanded a bribe of Rs 6 lakh from a builder. "We received a complaint that a building was being built in his (Khan's) constituency. Its construction was stopped and money was demanded from the builder, who paid the amount," Kejriwal said.

Khan might consider himself luckier for not being as clueless about his fate as A.P. Venkateswaran. Asked at a 1987 news conference about contradictions between his statements and those of foreign secretary Venkateswaran, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had told a Pakistani journalist: "Soon you will be talking to a new foreign secretary."

Today, Kejriwal stressed the action was "not the result of a media expose". "There will be no compromise with corruption. The decision has been taken with a heavy heart as there was a lot of trust involved. He (Khan) is being removed till the CBI probe is on."

Kejriwal claimed the government had an audio clip of alleged conversations between Khan and the builder. Khan's job has gone to Imran Hussain, a first-time MLA like the sacked leader.

The chief minister claimed it was the first time a minister had been sacked "taking suo motu cognisance of graft charges" and dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take similar action.

"I request PM Modi also to sack BJP chief ministers like Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje." Madhya Pradesh's Chouhan and Rajasthan's Vasundhara face allegations in the Vyapam and Lalit Modi scandals, respectively.

Khan, 39, said, however, that he had "resigned" and alleged an Opposition conspiracy. "It is a big conspiracy by the Opposition. I will disclose it tomorrow. The party had told me to resign pending inquiry. So I resigned. The image of the party should remain clean."

Khan claimed the conversation purportedly featuring him was "with a business associate". "I was asked to quit and I did."

The BJP hit back at Kejriwal. "Had Kejriwal really been a crusader against corruption, as he claims, he would have appointed a Lokayukta and promulgated the Jan Lokpal bill," leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, the BJP's Vijender Gupta, said.

He claimed Khan's name had cropped up in the case of a recent murder, blamed on a builders' lobby, and that Kejriwal had not taken it seriously. "When Asim Ahmed's name was highlighted as belonging to the builders' lobby in the murder case, the CM did not take it seriously. This serious lapse culminated in today's expose."

Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken blamed Kejriwal for making "wrong choices", highlighting that Khan was the second minister to get the boot in the past eight months of the AAP government. Law minister Jitender Tomar was sacked in June after his arrest over alleged fake degrees. "The party formed to fight corruption is finding itself in such a position," Maken said. Delhi has seven ministers, including Kejriwal.

But Kejriwal insisted Khan was axed as part of a "zero tolerance policy" towards graft. "The government will not tolerate corruption, be it by any MLA, minister or official, (deputy chief minister) Manish (Sisodia) or even by my son. If Manish commits corruption, I will take action. If I commit corruption, Manish will take action against me."