New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party, led by Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday had to face a slew of sting operations, purportedly showing the party leaders agreeing to take money for Assembly tickets and be part of a malafide campaign agaiÂnst corporate rivals. In eye of the storm was prominent face of the party and AAP candidate from R.K. Puram, Shazia Ilmi.
Caught in a sting operation where she allegedly agreed to help in maligning the image of a corporate rival without the support of any documentary proof in lieu of money, Shazia on Thursday evening offered to resign from the party and withdraw her candidature.
The stings against the AAP come just after the controversy surrounding anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare’s letter to Kejriwal over misuse of his name and of the funds collected for the Jan Lokpal agitation.
A television channel also claimed in its sting operation that Rs 2 crores had been taken to give party ticket for the Badarpur Assembly seat.
India News, a TV channel, claimed on Thursday that the AAP had sold the Badarpur Assembly seat for Rs 2 crores. The channel claimed that Kejriwal-led party gave ticket to Mr Narayan Dutt Tiwari instead of Mr Amrish Choudhury, who topped the list of AAP’s probable candidates in Badarpur Assembly segment.
The television channel also claimed that according to the guidelines of the party, the AAP had conducted an online voting in which 60 to 70 per cent of the party volunteers voted for Mr Choudhury. The TV channel claimed that the ticket was sold for Rs 2 crores. News portal - mediasarÂkar.com -claimed that in a sting operation, Ms Ilmi allegedly agreed to take part in a campaign to malign a fictitious corporate in lieu of Rs 25 lakhs to be paid in cash to her associates. The portal claiÂmed that Ms Ilmi told its representatives that the cash donation would be used for the salary of the party volunteers (who get about Rs 20,000 a month).
The portal claimed Ms Ilmi allegedly agreed to take part in a dharna to malign a corporate even when told that there was no documentary proof to substantiate charges against the company.
