New Delhi: Days before the Delhi Assembly polls, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Piyush Goyal on Monday hit out at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and questioned the source of its funding.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, Goyal said, “It's now out in the open that AAP accepts black money.”
Referring to the allegations made by some former AAP members on donations from fake companies, Goyal said, “It shows how AAP used black money to fund itself; AAP's claims about transparency now fall flat.”
Terming the fake funding as a serious matter, Goyal said, "The recent revelations on AAP funding are very serious matter. The Election Commission should look into the matter and the investigating agency should probe the matter. There should be action taken in such a case."
The Union Minister also said that a complaint has been sent to the Election Commission in this regard and the party has appealed for an immediate action.
Posing yet another bunch of five questions for AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman slammed the party, saying that they have gathered black money from fake companies.
Sitharaman further alleged that shell companies were created to transfer money to AAP. These companies are not permitted to donate because they have not made any profit and the set of directors of 31 companies were the same. "When they received these four cheques on their website the fund collected was showing only Rs 55 lakh while they had received Rs 2 crore. They are hiding more than revealing," she said.
Shazia Ilmi, former AAP leader who joined BJP recently, also launched a personal attack on AAP's CM candidate Arvind Kejriwal and alleged he was not practicing what he was preaching. She vouched for AVAM members who revealed the funding details saying she had seen them working in AAP office and also campaigning for Kejriwal in Varanasi during 2013 Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) today reviewed the expenditure and anti-black money monitoring processes in poll-bound Delhi as it instructed all observers to maintain a tight vigil in the last few days before the polling day this weekend.
