Swaraj Abhiyan, founded by former AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, has raised questions about the funding of Arvind Kejriwal's party, accusing it of non-transparency when it came to its donors.
The new party invited the AAP for a public debate on issues pertaining to its funding, including why the AAP, which has declared commitment to financial transparency, has taken off its website the list of its past and current donors since June this year.
Referring to AAP's challenge to national parties to have a public debate on their funding, Swaraj Abhiyan spokesperson Anupam said his party would, in the same spirit, like to invite the AAP for a public debate at Jantar Mantar or any other place and time of its choice about its political funding.
He said Swaraj Abhiyan would like to ask the AAP some questions, which includes why the party has taken off the list of donors from its website and why it has not been restored despite repeated appeals and public outcry.
Swaraj Abhiyan also alleged that the AAP had presented two different lists of contributions—one to the tax authorities and the Election Commission and the another to the public through its website. “Why do the two lists not match? What did the party wish to conceal?”Anupam asked.
AAP has, however, maintained that the list of donors was taken off as they were being harassed by central government authorities.
Also amongst the questions put to the AAP is what the party has done about the “four contributions of Rs 50 lakh each received in April 2014, now that it is proven that those contributions came from shell companies with benami directors.”
It also alleged that the AAP had collected hundreds of crores of rupees in cash from aspiring candidates in Punjab and asked where it had deposited the money since it maintains no bank account in the state.
It also asked what the AAP's financial relationship to B.D. Aggrawal of Sriganganagar in Rajasthan was, and claimed that the party leadership had a clandestine meeting with him immediately after demonetisation.
Swaraj Abhiyan's challenge to the AAP for a public debate follows Anna Hazare's letter to Kejriwal on the issue, in which the social activist has questioned the AAP's deviation from its stated principles of financial probity and transparency.
