The storm triggered by the Kumar Vishwas and Kapil Mishra controversies that recently hit AAP may have blown over for now. But beneath the apparent tranquility, suspicion, mistrust and conspiracy theories continue to be bandied about. The truce between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Vishwas may be temporary and prove fragile before long.
By most accounts, the Kejriwal-Vishwas fracas could have potentially taken a turn for the worse. The AAP government would have fallen and Kejriwal could have been consigned to history.
After successive electoral defeats in Goa, Punjab and the Delhi civic elections, the Kejriwal-Vishwas episode could have been politically fatal for the party. But for a driver, Mishra could have become the Delhi chief minister.
If Mishra is on an indefinite fast today, it is only because the entire plan fizzled out for two reasons. First, he could not muster the numbers. Secondly, his own driver spilled the beans. Mishra could have been the prime beneficiary of the plan to dislodge Kejriwal which was not conceived by him. AAP sources claim that the plot was hatched by Vishwas, who was in touch with at least 15 legislators, five of whom had already pledged their support to him in writing.
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The Plot
The plan was simple: Foment mistrust for Kejriwal among AAP legislators. It also involved replacing Kejriwal with Vishwas as national convenor of the party. The second step would have been a direct bid to capture power.
The coup plan is said to have started about three months ago with Vishwas spreading the ‘message’ through tweets, social media posts and TV interviews, insinuating that Kejriwal shielded the corrupt, runs the government incompetently and has abandoned the ideals on which AAP was founded.
As Delhi’s Water Minister, Mishra turned off the tap to create an artificial water crisis just ahead of the municipal elections. The AAP leadership was flooded with complaints from party MLAs who besieged Mishra with pleas to improve water supply in the parched summer. But he didn't do it. AAP leaders now believe there was a deliberate attempt to sabotage the municipal elections.
AAP leaders, including Kejriwal, on the other hand requested Vishwas to campaign for the municipal elections. But he did not turn up even once.
The plan was to wean away 15 AAP MLAs and then rope in the 21 legislators who faced disqualification on office of profit charges. They were promised that the 'passive' BJP support could save their Assembly membership. That would have got Mishra a simple majority in a House of 70.
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The Campaign
On his part, Vishwas released a 20-minute-long video on social media, criticising the political situation in the country, but devoted only two minutes to lambast the Kejriwal government as well.
As the results of civic polls started coming in, a series of statements emanated from AAP leaders such as Vishwas, Janakpuri MLA Rajesh Rishi and others blaming the party leadership for the debacle. Mishra was the first to publicly advise Kejriwal not to blame EVMs for the poll rout. It was in the midst of this war of words that another MLA, Amanullah Khan, described Vishwas as an RSS agent out to sabotage the AAP.
An enraged Vishwas demanded Khan’s ouster from the party. This was immediately seconded by Mishra, Somnath Bharti, Adarsh Shastri, Rajesh Rishi and Alka Lamba.
Coup Expose
Meanwhile, Mishra’s driver spilled the beans to another driver, saying that his boss was soon going to be the Delhi CM. The second driver shared this “gossip” with his boss, who was close to Kejriwal. The driver’s boss in turn alerted Kejriwal. That is when the missing pieces of the jigsaw puzzle – as far as Kejriwal was concerned – fell into place.
The Kejriwal camp acted swiftly. They were able to figure out that Mishra, along with Vishwas, had contacted about 15 MLAs, promising them lucrative posts – of minister or an equivalent post. About half-a-dozen had even pledged their support to Mishra.
AAP leaders started calling the MLAs one by one. This frenzy scared the fence sitters as well those who had crossed the line. Former law minister Somnath Bharti said he was in Shimla. Adarsh Shastri was contacted in Ranikhet. Alka Lamba and Rajesh Rishi were in Delhi and when confronted, admitted that Mishra had approached them individually with lucrative offers. By now, it was clear to Mishra that his game was up.
All senior AAP leaders rushed to Vishwas’s place to placate him. Mishra was summoned to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's official residence on the night of 4 May to be sounded out about a mini cabinet reshuffle and that he would be divested of his portfolio.
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The Revolt
AAP sources claim that Mishra quietly heard out Sisodia. He then went out – apparently to speak to someone on phone – only to return after 15 minutes and thundered: “I know I am being victimised. I will see to it that Kejriwal is completely ruined. I will make sure that he goes to jail.”
The next day, Mishra launched a media broadside against Kejriwal, saying he was witness to the CM accepting Rs 2 crore as bribe from his cabinet colleague Satyender Jain. Interestingly, Jain had not visited the CM’s residence the day he was being accused by Mishra of having given the bribe.
The Quint called AAP leaders accused of plotting a coup – Kumar Vishwas, Kapil Mishra and Adarsh Shastri – for their version of events. Finding no response, we sent them messages about the story being done and that we needed to speak to them. None of them responded except an assistant of Shastri who promised to arrange a telephonic interview with him.
But that never materialised. Besides, this reporter also called BJP leaders Manoj Tiwari and Vijendra Gupta to ask whether the BJP was supporting the rebel AAP faction. Gupta spoke extensively about alleged corruption of Kejriwal but on the purported coup, he quipped, ‘It's AAP's internal matter. The BJP has nothing to do with that'.
Kejriwal's Brother-in-Law
Mishra accused Kejriwal of giving government contracts to his brother-in-law Surendra Bansal and reimbursing his bogus bills. The Quint is in possession of documents that show that Delhi government's Public Works Department awarded the contract to Bansal on 4 February 2015, while AAP came to power on 14 February that year.
This means that Delhi was under President's Rule at the time and the contract was awarded by the then Lieutenant Governor and not Kejriwal. The bills were passed only after the work was certified by IIT-Roorkee for quality. AAP leaders term these allegations as bogus.
Way Forward
Having checked the potential damage in time, Kejriwal has now embarked on a massive confidence building exercise among his legislators to avoid the possibility of another coup in the future. He has spoken to all MLAs first in groups of five and then individually.
“Most MLAs complained about inaccessibility. Kejriwal is trying to make himself more accessible. We don't foresee the BJP's designs succeeding in Delhi. Yes, it was a major scare. But it’s behind us now. We are now going to consolidate the party,” AAP spokesperson Ashutosh said.
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(The writer is a Delhi-based senior journalist. He can be reached @sharadgupta1. The views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
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