Mishra says AAP lied on donations; AAP says BJP using him

 

New Delhi, May 14 (IANS/PTI): Suspended AAP leader Kapil Mishra on Sunday accused AAP of lying to the Election Commission (EC) about donations and laundering money through shell companies, before he fainted midway through the presser and was hospitalised.

The AAP dismissed the charges as a “conspiracy” by the BJP and said the latter was shooting from the sacked minister’s shoulder.

Mishra alleged that the AAP had over Rs 45 crore in its account in 2013-2014, but in its declaration to the poll panel it showed only Rs 9 crore, thereby concealing around Rs 36 crore.

He alleged that during 2014-15, the party had around Rs 65 crore in its account but disclosed only Rs 32 crore whereas the fund details on AAP website showed Rs 27 crore.

The AAP categorically denied the allegations and said it had followed rules in maintaining its books.

He said the central government and the BJP were out to crush the AAP and defame Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Mishra said since 2013, the AAP has been converting its black money into white through foreign trips of its senior leaders — Durgesh Pathak, Ashish Khetan, Satyendar Jain, and Raghav Chaddha. He said these trips were funded through black money.

He said the AAP used hawala route to get black money through shell companies, whose directors are connected to its leaders.

The sacked Minister said he would go to the Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday and submit all documents pertaining to party funding with the agency.

“I will go to the CBI with the evidence. After all this is investigated, he (Kejriwal) will go to jail,” Mishra said.

As he brandished some cheques before reporters, Mishra fainted and was taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital here. His condition was stated to be “stable”.

Countering Mishra, AAP leader Sanjay Singh questioned the authenticity of the “fake cheques”.

“Anyone can do this. Even I can make such cheque for Rs 70 crore in BJP’s name,” he said.

Sanjay Singh said the BJP and the Congress never made declarations of about 70-80 per cent of their donations totalling “Rs 1,000 crore in the last 10 years… received from unknown sources”.

“You (the BJP) are the same party whose (then) national President (Bangaru Laxman) was caught on camera while accepting bribe in a defence deal. You readmitted (former Karnataka Chief Minister) Yeddyurappa after sacking him on corruption charges. Despite 54 deaths in the (Madhya Pradesh) Vyapam scam, the BJP is silent,” he said.

BJP terms Arvind Kejriwal as ‘Mr Corrupt’, demands his resignation 

Branding Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as “Mr Corrupt”, the BJP today demanded his resignation after sacked minister Kapil Mishra alleged “massive” financial irregularities in the AAP’s funding.

BJP national spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi also rubbished the Aam Aadmi Party’s claim that Mishra was acting at its behest.

She said Kejriwal must come clean about the allegations levelled by the sacked Delhi minister.

He must respond to Mishra’s claims instead of resorting to mud-slinging, she demanded.

“Mr Corrupt has increased corruption in Delhi by leaps and bounds and this has overshadowed governance. The AAP’s leadership is being questioned because it is one man’s party indulging in corrupt practice and filling the coffers of his own family and people around him,” Lekhi said.

The Aam Aadmi Party has now become “Kejriwal Aadmi Party”, she added.

The AAP swept to power in Delhi riding on its anti- corruption movement.

Responding to the AAP’s claim that Mishra was “parroting” the BJP, Lekhi, an MP from central Delhi, said the sacked minister was once Kejriwal’s confidant.

“Nobody has to parrot the BJP’s lines. This person (Mishra) is somebody at whose behest people like Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav were thrown out of the AAP. He was close to Mr Corrupt.

“The BJP has nothing to do with him. When people from within the AAP are questioning the party leadership, we really don’t have much task to do. We can only ask questions in consonance,” she said.