The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday challenged the BJP and Congress to disclose the sources of the funds being spent in the Lok Sabha election campaign following the Delhi High Court asking the Central Government and the Election Commission to take appropriate action against them for allegedly accepting foreign funds in violation of the law.
The party said the silence of these two parties on the court judgment makes it clear that they are hand in glove on the issue of taking huge financial favours from corporate houses in return of providing them undue benefits.
The AAP demanded that the probe into the foreign funding of the Congress and the BJP should be monitored by the Election Commission, since the Home Ministry, which virtually gave a clean chit to these two parties, cannot be expected to complete an impartial investigation.
“The EC, which has taken concrete steps in curbing the use of blackmoney in elections, should treat this case as an example to come down harsh on the corporate-political nexus, exposed by the landmark High Court judgment,” the party said.
The party further said the funds received from the Indian subsidiaries of England-based Vedanta Resources by the Congress and BJP raises serious allegations of conflict of interest and bribery.
“These allegations cannot be brushed under the carpet and the AAP demands that the EC should seek all details from these parties about all clearances provided by their governments to these companies and when did they receive funds,” it said.
The party also asked if both the Congress and BJP can deny receiving nearly Rs 10 crore and Rs 20 crore, respectively, from foreign source in violation of the law between 2003-04 and 2011-12.