The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday cried foul over the Union home ministry issuing a notice to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led party asking it to provide information on overseas funding it has received.
Accusing the Centre of ‘witch hunting’, AAP leader Ashutosh said the Union government is practising political vendetta.
“This is nothing but witch hunting, this is political vendetta. The Home Ministry once under Manmohan Singh and the other time under Narendra Modi has already conducted an investigation and submitted the report of the same to the Delhi High Court citing that nothing has been found wrong in the funding of the Aam Aadmi Party,” Ashutosh said.
“This is nothing but political vendetta. I will say that with which ever agency they want to appoint to investigate the matter they can, I know they will able to find nothing,” he added.
However, on the paradox, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has claimed that the AAP had deleted information regarding its foreign funding from its website and is hiding facts from the income tax department and the government.
BJP leader R.P. Singh said that AAP, which made tall promises of working with transparency, should give the details of its foreign funds to the government, while adding that if the party has not done any wrong then it should not fear from any sort of investigation.
“This is long pending and this is the case which is on with them that they have to give the details of the foreign funding which has been coming to them under FCRA, they have purposely removed all the details from their website, all though they have claimed that they are very transparent party,’ said Singh.
“Nobody has given them a clean chit and witch hunting and if they claim that they have done nothing wrong then they must not fear of anything. There are details which the AAP has hidden from the income tax department and the government,” he added.
Triggering yet another AAP vs Centre face-off, the MHA had yesterday sent a notice to AAP, asking it to provide information in connection with its overseas funding.
The Home Ministry in its notice has asked AAP to disclose the source, nature and the amount of donation as well as the foreign equity in the shareholding pattern of the corporation, company or source from where the donation is received.
Meanwhile, asserting that irregularities have cropped in the past as well in connection with foreign funding of the AAP, the Congress Party on Saturday urged the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit to come out clean in the regard.
Averring that it is the second time problems have been cited in connection with foreign funding of AAP, Congress leader J.P. Aggarwal said figures of fund that the party submitted were found to be incorrect.
“The AAP should give information regarding its foreign funding because they have been accused in the same regard earlier as well. They have not given correct numbers, the figures they have shared do not match,” Aggarwal said.
“The AAP was claiming that it will make its funding available on the internet but then they have not done that, all that drama is over. Now that an irregularity has been pointed they must come clean,” he added.
