New Delhi, Nov 19: Social activist Anna Hazare has once again completely disapproved the electoral path of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal and asked through a letter whether the party is using funds collected for Lokpal Movement in the election campaign.
The mentor of the AAP leader has also queried whether the party is still collecting funds in his name.
A hurt and upset Kejriwal on Monday, with Prashant Bhushan and Manish Sisodia, hurriedly called a press conference to release Anna’s letter and his response to it. He demanded a thorough investigation into the charge by Justice Santosh Hegde or a person carrying similar image.
“If Justice Hegde finds any instance of defalcation in the finds of the Jan Lokpal Movement or its use for the party, I will withdraw my candidature from the Delhi Assembly elections,” Kejriwal said in his reply to Hazare.
Kejriwal also said if no wrongdoing is found in the probe, Hazare should come to canvass for the AAP.
He has rushed trusted associate and AAP leader Kumar Vishwas to Ralegan Siddhi carrying his reply to Hazare, whom he termed as his “guru”.
Kejriwal, in his letter to the noted activist, has clarified that no funds collected for the Lokpal Movement are being used for elections and also his name is not being used in elections either for canvassing or collecting funds.
Kejriwal said whatever had been collected for the Lokpal Movement was spent for it .
The money collected could not be used for elections as it would be a violation of Income Tax laws. Already facing an inquiry by the Union Home Ministry over allegations of collecting funds from abroad in violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, AAP leaders said an open investigation should be conducted to settle the issue forever.
“There have been a number of investigations into the funds of India Against Corruption (IAC) and organisations run by its activists, including that of Manish Sisodia’s Kabir. We have come clear of all the charges related to funds,” said Prashant Bhushan.
In his reply, Kejriwal expressed his pain over the question raised by the social activist and reminded him of the sequence of events related to the audit of the funds collected for the Jan Lokpal Movement and said that accounts had been checked at his instance and discussed in the core committee meeting of India Against Corruption, which had spearheaded the movement. The reply reminded him that his own team had gone into the accounts.
He also clarified that Hazare’s query on the assertion of the AAP that it would pass a Jan Lokpal Act at Ramleela Maidan and said that it would be state level law limited to Delhi. “Vested interests are posting wrong information to Anna,” said Kejriwal.
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