Kapil Mishra: From being AAP’s face to letting it down

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal removed Mishra from the ministerial post on Saturday.

A prominent face of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi, Kapil Mishra was an activist much before he jumped into politics. Mishra was actively involved in the efforts to clean Yamuna and had organised a bike rally from Delhi to Agra to raise awareness about the pollution plaguing the river.

AAP leader and former Delhi water and tourism minister Kapil Mishra at a press conference at Rajghat in New Delhi on Sunday. (Sonu Mehta/HT Photo)

Mishra, who holds a Masters from Delhi School of Social Work, was one of the most prominent faces from Delhi to represent the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement on television debates.

Before he joined the IAC movement, 36-year-old Mishra was active in Karawal Nagar, where his mother Annapurna Mishra was a BJP leader. She became the first mayor of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation after the trifurcation of the municipal bodies.

Mishra could be spotted in municipal offices while his mother was the EDMC mayor.

Mishra, who has worked with international organisations such as Greenpeace and Amnesty International, contested the 2013 assembly election from Karawal Nagar on AAP ticket.

Mishra lost the elections by a small margin but was again given a ticket by AAP due to his popularity and work in 2015. This time, he won the election by 44,431 votes and took his oath of office in Sanskrit.

Mishra was first made the vice-chairman of Delhi Jal Board and was later made the law minister along with being appointed as tourism and water minister. He prepared a report on an alleged water tanker scam that took place during former chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s tenure.

But Mishra was removed as the law minister just days after he wrote to Kejriwal recommending an FIR against Dikshit. In the same letter, Mishra had expressed apprehension that there will be attempts to remove him.