'Make Sonia, Rahul poll expenses public'
NEW DELHI: Back at targeting Congress, Team Anna today asked the party to make public expenses incurred for hiring choppers for the just-concluded Assembly elections to five states, particularly for Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, and the source of funding.
Anna Hazare and his close aide Arvind Kejriwal demanded that the expenses should be made public but was rebuffed by AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh who said his party will "declare the expenses to the Election Commission and not to Arvind Kejriwal."
"Elections (are) over. Diggy Raja (Digvijay Singh) should make Rahul's helicopter and party's other election expenses and sources public. Other parties should also do that," Kejriwal tweeted.
Kejriwal said Singh had repeatedly asked Team Anna to make public the money they collected and then spent on the Lokpal protest.
"We gave all details on our website, the list of donors, expenses etc. So, we want to know from Digvijay Singh, all Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, how much did they spend on helicopters and rallies.
"They should make their expenses public and put it on their websites," Kejriwal told reporters.
Hazare supported Kejriwal's view and said he found nothing wrong in his close aide's remarks. "Expenses must be made public. If it is not your personal money, the details should be made public," he said.
In his tweets, Kejriwal said, "why are parties hesitating in putting their expenses in public? Aren't they accountable to the public?"
Reacting to Singh's assertion that they will file the accounts with the Election Commission, Kejriwal said, "Diggy Raja is hiding behind the EC? Why (are they) afraid of public? Is Congress accountable to public?"
He also raised similar questions to BJP. "BJP is hiding behind RTI? Is BJP accountable to public? Why afraid of public?" he tweeted.
Kejriwal said no party was willing to publish election expenses and it raised suspicion whether all is well.
He said one has witnessed that almost all leaders of various parties were using helicopters.
"There were big rallies being held and a lot of expenditure happened. Where did all this money come from? Whose money is it? How much money was spent? People have the right to know," he said.
Meanwhile, prominent members of Team Anna met in Noida to discuss the next course of action.
Hazare, Kejriwal, Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan were among those who attended the meeting. "The meeting discussed the next course of action," a Team Anna member said without elaborating.