AHMEDABAD: The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday denied that the Rs 20-lakh cash seized by the Gujarat police belonged to it.AAP candidate from Bardoli constituency, however, gave a statement to the Surat police that the money did belong to AAP. This newspaper has a copy of the statement given by AAP candidate Rajendra Solanki to the police.
In a statement sent to this paper by AAP spokesman Pritam Singh said: “AAP has nothing to do with any such money. The AAP candidate has not given any such statement. It is an attempt by BJP to tarnish AAP image due to the growing graph of AAP in Gujarat. BJP has become very desperate and will resort to similar dirty tricks in the next one month.”
AAP spokesperson’s statement that their candidate has not said that the money belonged to AAP is disproved by the statement of the party’s Bardoli candidate. In a statement given to the Surat rural police in Gujarati, AAP candidate Rajendra Solanki said “amo Arajdar/ fariyadi bardoli vidhansbhana umedvar tarike jaher thayel hoi Party tarf thi party na prchar prasar maate bardoli khaate saurabh prasra ne kamgiri sopvama aavel che, jethi teo paarti na prchar prasar tatha menejment nu kam kaaj kare che e rite ame temne olkhie che.”
This translates to: “I, petitioner/complainant, has been declared as a candidate for the Bardoli Assembly and the party has appointed Saurabh Parashar at Bardoli to carry out the party’s publicity and management work. That’s how I know him...” Solanki further said: “Saurabh no maara mobail par fon aavel ke mere par hamla hua hai, meri gadi ka kanch tut gaya hai,meri gadi ka kaanch tod ke paise ki chori ho gai hai, tethi hu banav banel bardoli polis stesan khaate pahonchi gayel hato tyare amo e saurbh bhai ne puchel ke shu banav banel hato tyare temna haath ma kaala color ni beg hati ane te batavi emno e janavel ke aa beg tena gaadi maathi ajanya ismo chori kari nasi gayel hata ane te beg aadil naam na isme chor no picho kari beg paachi laavel hata tevu janavel ane aa rupiya teo aangdiya pedhi maathi laavel hata ane rupiya event na kahrch maate hata.”
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This translates to: “I received a call from Saurabh on my mobile saying that there was an attack on me, my car’s glass was broken, they broke my car’s glass and stole money. So I went to the Bardoli police station. When I reached the place, I asked Saurabh bhai about the incident. He said he had a black bag that an unknown person stole from his car and escaped, and the bag was returned to him by a person named Adil by chasing the robber. Adil chased and brought the bag with the money back. He (Saurabh) said that the money was received by him from an angadia (hawala operator). The money was meant for the expenses of the party event.”
The last line clearly says that Santosh collected money from an angadia (hawala operator) and it was to be used to meet the expenses of a party event.