The three accused arrested by the Anti-Corruption Branch in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is actively campaigning to unseat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the December 4 civic body polls, was hit by allegations of selling tickets. The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) arrested three persons for allegedly accepting money for the party’s ticket from the Kamla Nagar ward, the agency said on Wednesday.
‘₹90 lakh demand’
A man named Gopal Khari, who said he was seeking AAP’s candidature for his wife Shobha Khari, complained to the ACB accusing party MLAs Akhilesh Pati Tripathi from Model Town and Rajesh Gupta from Wazirpur of demanding ₹90 lakh in exchange for the ticket.
The ACB said it caught the three accused — Om Singh, the brother-in-law of Mr. Tripathi, Shiv Shankar Pandey aka Vishal Pandey, Mr. Tripathi’s PA, and one Prince Raghuvanshi — “red-handed” on Tuesday. A case has been registered against the three under Section 171(E) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 7/13 of Prevention of Corruption Act.
Mr. Khari, in his complaint to the ACB, alleged that he “paid ₹35 lakh to Mr. Singh for Mr. Tripathi and ₹20 lakh to Mr. Gupta at his residence”. “Om Singh told me ‘you will have to pay the remaining ₹35 lakh after getting the ticket’,” Mr. Khari, who owns a sweet shop in Kamla Nagar, wrote in his complaint letter to the ACB. He also specified the time and locations of the alleged payments.
Hitting out at AAP, Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta demanded that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expel the two MLAs. BJP MP from South Delhi Ramesh Bidhuri said, “Before 2015, Kejriwal used to say that if any MLA is accused of corruption, he should be sacked with immediate effect; now time will tell what decision he will take for the Model Town MLA.”
‘Silver lining’
AAP leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said there was a “silver lining” in the matter, “it was now clear that AAP’s ticket is not sold”. “Even if someone paid the money or someone accepted the money, the ticket was not given to that person. This proves AAP does not sell tickets,” said Mr. Sisodia, while seeking an independent investigation into the allegations.
On a question about the involvement of party MLAs, the Deputy CM said, “The ACB investigation will reveal the truth but none of the MLAs recommended the name of the person concerned.”
The ACB said it arrested the three persons after laying a trap at Mr. Khari’s residence. Mr. Singh came “to return ₹33 lakh of the ₹35 lakh accepted for Mr. Tripathi”. The money has been seized and further investigation in the case is on, the agency said.
