Kejriwal government removes Kapil Mishra as minister, inducts 2 new faces

NEW DELHI: The Arvind Kejriwal government today sacked Kapil Mishra as the water minister, days after he sided with senior party leader Kumar Vishwas who has been at loggerheads with the party leadership.

The party also inducted two new faces -- Seemapuri MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam and Najafgarh legislator Kailash Gehlot -- into the Cabinet.

A senior official said the decision to remove Mishra was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Soon after the move, Mishra claimed he would "expose" the involvement of certain AAP leaders in an alleged scam tomorrow.

He said he had met the chief minister earlier in the day and handed over documents related to the alleged scam.

"I was not informed of the decision and as per my knowledge, it was taken unilaterally by Kejriwal. The Cabinet or the Political Affairs Committee (the AAP's top decision- making body) was not involved," Mishra told PTI.

A senior government official said the decision to remove Mishra was taken after it was found that the minister had submitted several "inflated" bills.

Sources in the party said Mishra was sacked because of his poor performance. However, the party had considered him as one of the most vocal and active voices in the government until he sided with Vishwas.