‘BJP, Mishra are hand-in-glove’
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday denied allegations of corruption levelled by former Delhi water minister Kapil Mishra and said that their former colleague was speaking the language of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has made similar allegations in the past.
The party underlined that the presence of Neil Tarrance Haslam, a former AAP member who joined the BJP, by Mishra’s side exposed the role of the BJP, which has been attempting to tarnish the image of AAP and Arvind Kejriwal with an aim to get AAP deregistered.
“The Prime Minister himself had made similar allegations, but the agencies (of the Central government) could not unearth anything over the past two-anda-half years. Now Kapil Mishra is repeating what BJP alleged. This is a conspiracy to finish the AAP. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari recently approached the Election Commission demanding deregistration of the AAP,” party leader Sanjay Singh told reporters. “Neel is an agent of the BJP,” Singh added, before sharing pictures of Neil with BJP leaders to prove his point.
Neil has also been a member of AAP Volunteer Action Manch, a breakaway group of the party, which had accused the AAP of money laundering days before the 2015 Delhi assembly polls.
Sanjay Singh also questioned authenticity of the cheques shown by Mishra. “Cheques of ₹35 crore each were shown. But nobody asked where they came from. It is a big fraud. Anyone can do this. Even I can make such cheque of ₹70 crore in the name of BJP,” he said.
Condemning the language used by Mishra for Kejriwal, AAP leader Ashutosh said, “I invite you Kapil Mishra to AAP’s office. I will open the door and make Kejriwal stand in front you. If you don’t drag him by the collar, then I will think there is still some humanity left in you.”
Speaking on accusations of foreign visits, AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha said he used to travel abroad even before joining the party. “I have made several foreign visits funded by my family. I was recently invited by the England government for a seminar on young politicians from across the world,” he said.