Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lashed out at suspended leader Kapil Mishra’s allegations against the party’s financial declarations, saying that it was a ploy of the BJP to defame them and to “derecognise” the party.
‘Failed attempt’
Hours after Mr. Mishra alleged that AAP and its national convenor Arvind Kejriwal had lied about their donation figures to the Election Commission and the people, senior party leaders Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha and Ashutosh addressed the media and said that the ousted minister is making the same allegations that BJP has been making for the past two-and-a-half-years but haven’t been able to prove.
“This is BJP’s failed attempt at defaming AAP and Mr. Kejriwal. If they want to fight us then they should do so face-to-face and not hide behind Mr. Mishra,” Mr. Singh said.
He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party have been alleging that donations worth ₹2 crore received by AAP came from unaccounted sources. However, he said, they have been in power for almost three years now and have not been able to unearth any proof against AAP.
The party claimed that both BJP and Mr. Mishra are hand-in-glove against the AAP. Mr. Singh said that BJP talking about corruption is like Sholay ’s Gabbar Singh—preaching about non-violence.
Mr. Chadha also took a shot at Mr. Mishra saying that none of his allegations were based on truth. “He was using the big words — hawala , scam, bhrashtachari . For a moment even I sat before the TV to see what revelations he was going to make. But when I heard him, I could only laugh,” Mr. Chadha said.
‘Uncivil language’
The party also declared that they will file a civil and criminal defamation case against Mr. Mishra for maligning their legislators Naresh Yadav and Shiv Charan Goyal, without proof. Mr. Mishra had claimed that Mr. Goyal was managing the shell companies making donations to the AAP to convert their black money into white. He also alleged that Mr. Yadav’s wife was an investor in one of the fake companies.
Mr. Ashutosh also expressed disappointment at the “uncivil language” used by Mr. Mishra while addressing Mr. Kejriwal.
