EC investigating sting operation against AAP leaders

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The Election Commission has started investigation into the sting operation allegedly showing Aam Aadmi Party leaders like Shazia Ilmi raising funds through "illegal" means after procuring the CD from the media portal. AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal along with Yogendra Yadav and other party leaders met Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath and the Election Commissioners on Friday, asking them to stop the circulation of the CD saying it was a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. In a bid to walk to the talk on corruption, the AAP on Friday reiterated that if the EC finds any of the party’s candidates guilty after examining the controversial sting operation footage, he or she would withdraw from the political race and stop campaigning. In a bid to assuage tensions brewing for the AAP ahead of December 04 Assembly Elections, AAP member Yogendra Yadav reiterated that the CD which showed one of its candidates allegedly accepting a donation without verification was not genuine. Notably, the media portal has submitted the tapes to the EC. Terming the CD a political conspiracy, Yadav said lawyer Prashant Bhushan will file a defamation suit against those who made the CD and TV channels which broadcast it. Addressing a press conference, Yadav asserted that no decision against the candidates in question would be taken unless the party reviews unedited footage, which it is yet to receive from the media portal which conducted the sting operation. He also said selected portions were shown to defame the AAP and show its candidates in poor light ahead of their debut in Assembly Elections. Pointing to “discrepancy” between the transcript and actual conversation in the footage, Yadav said: “The CD of the sting shows AAP candidates were being pestered by reporters. Their conversation was edited to give a wrong impression." "Our candidates interacted at length with the reporters carrying out the sting but in the clip only a few minutes` footage is shown." Yadav said the party had demanded raw footage from the media portal, to which the CEO had agreed last night. However, the party has not received any tape till now. The chief executive officer of mediasarkar.com, the web portal that said it had captured footage showing Shazia Ilmi, Aam Aadmi Party candidate from RK Puram in south Delhi, accepting donations without following procedures, handed over the CD to the Election Commission.