New Delhi: Reiterating the Aam Aadmi Party’s “zero-tolerance policy” towards corruption, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday publicly sacked food and supplies minister Asim Ahmed Khan from the Delhi Cabinet for allegedly demanding Rs 6 lakh as a bribe from a builder. Mr Kejriwal dared the BJP to sack Rajasthan chief minister Vasund-hara Raje Scindia and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan on corruption charges. The CM also played the audio tape of a conversation purportedly involving the builder, Mr Khan and a middleman and said the case was being referred to the CBI for investigation.
“I am sad to take this decision. Till the CBI completes the investigation, he (Khan) will not be a minister,” Mr Kejriwal said.
He handed over the portfolio to Mr Imran Hussain, a first-time legislator from Ballimaran in Old Delhi. Mr Khan is the second minister in the Arvind Kejriwal Cabinet to get the boot in the last eight months.
“The government will not tolerate corruption, be it by any MLA, minister, official, 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.
This is for the first time in history that a minister has been sacked taking suo motu cognisance of graft charges and the BJP should also sack Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan for corruption charges against them," Mr Kejriwal said, adding, "If we can remove our minister, then we can take action against anyone."
Elaborating on the seriousness of the complaint against Mr Khan, the CM said the government had received an audio tape on Mr Khan demanding '6 lakh from a builder to continue construction of a building in his constituency of Matia Mahal. "We received a complaint last night that a building was being built in his constituency. Its construction was stopped and money was demanded from the builder, who paid the amount. There was a mediator between the MLA and the minister," Mr Kejriwal said. Sources said the approximately one-hour-long audio clip containing telephonic conversations purportedly between Mr Khan, the mediator and the builder over the last one month, was given to Mr Kejriwal by a senior AAP leader on Thursday.
The AAP leader was approached by a complainant whose identity was not revealed.Mr Kejriwal and Mr Sisodia said they listened to the audio clip three to four times Thursday night to ascertain its veracity and concluded that prima facie there was a strong case against Mr Khan. He was summoned Friday morning and, when confronted with the audio clip, Mr Khan confessed to his wrongdoing, the source claimed. However, Mr Khan remained unavailable for comment.
The CM later held meetings with senior AAP leaders, including Ashutosh and Kumar Vishwas. After the meeting, Mr Kejriwal decided to remove Mr Khan though some party leaders were of the view that his portfolios should be changed. The ruling AAP in the national capital said Mr Kejriwal had set a new benchmark in propriety and asked the Modi government and CMs of other states to follow his example.
Mr Kejriwal had begun his press conference by saying that the AAP was born of an anti-corruption movement. "We were forced to contest elections. People trust us only because of our honest politics and anti-corruption stand. We had dreamt of a corruption-free India. And we had said we will not compromise on corruption at any cost." He then announced Mr Khan’s sacking. He underlined that this was a decision of the AAP government, and that the media did not unearth this episode.
