Under scanner over foreign funding, AAP says ready to face probe

Zee Media Bureau/Hemant Abhishek New Delhi: Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Monday said that an enquiry has been ordered into complains regarding sources of foreign funding received by Arvind Kejriwal-led, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). "Complaints have come to me. We are probing the matter. ...From where the funds are coming, from which country, what is the source etc. We are trying to find out all these," Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters here in response to a question on alleged foreign funding of AAP. The Home Minister, however, said such a probe takes time and indicated that the outcome of the investigation may not come before the Delhi Assembly polls scheduled for December 4. Shinde said that the government was also probing complains that AAP was receiving funds in violation of (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) FCRA, reports said.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had on Sunday questioned the source of funding of Arvind Kejriwal`s AAP - a party whose main election plank is to check corruption. "Where do you (AAP) get all the money from. You can call me a liar or I can call you a thief. But is there any proof to say that I am a liar? Is there any proof to say that you are a thief. Just by pointing fingers you cannot make somebody corrupt. Everybody is living in glass houses," Dikshit said. AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal rebutted claims of any wrongdoing in gathering funds and said, They can investigate, but with us they must also investigate BJP and Congress. ÄAP leader Manish Sisodia spoke to scribes claiming that the party had not violated any norms and was open to scrutiny. “The sources of the party’s funds had been highlighted on the party’s Web portal,” Sisodia said and alleged that the so-called probe was a part of political vendetta. AAP leader Prashant Bhushan claimed that the party had declined any offer from funds from sources abroad or even from NRI holding foreign passports. “We have only taken donations from Indians and NRIs who hold Indian citizenship. And these details are available on the party’s website,” he said. Bhushan also called for scrutiny of party funds of the Congress and the BJP and their anonymous donors. The AAP had said it has collected around Rs 19 crore till November 8 as donations from 63,000 people including a host of NRIs. The party claimed to have received donations ranging from Rs 10 to several lakhs, from rickshaw-pullers to traders and industrialists to fight the polls and bring a "graft-free" administration.