PATIALA: The sacked
Punjab convener of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Sucha Singh
Chhotepur
does not remember to whom in AAP he had handed over the claimed Rs 1.02 crore meant for contesting the elections for the second time, in Delhi.
To a specific question as to whom in the AAP he had given the money he said, “I do not remember to whom the money was handed over, but it was in the election office of the party in New Delhi.” He also claimed that he was accompanied by 5 or 6 volunteers with him when the money was delivered to the AAP office-bearer.
How could he hand over the huge amount to an unknown person in the election office? He answered, “We believed that the person must be a confidante of the top leaders. No receipt was sought nor given him.” He further said that all the members of
Parliament
(MPs) of the party too paid election fund to the party which remained unacknowledged.
Chhotepur had claimed that he had paid Rs 80 lakh in the first instalment and Rs 22 lakh in the second instalment. However, he could not recollect the month or the date of passing over the money. AAP claims that all the contributions were accounted for and displayed on the official website of the party. Money above Rs 20000 was accepted through cheque only.
As the controversy brews from a long time, AAP leadership had not specifically reacted to this bit of information. Chhotepur was removed after a video sting revealed that he was accepting money from someone and had not disclosed to the party functionaries. Interestingly, the sting video has not been made public by AAP despite repeated requests by media persons. Jasbir Singh Bir, chairman of the grievances cell probing the episode, when asked said “Now there was no need of the video as Chhotepur had admitted to having accepted the bribe money.”
But the question remains why should a transparent party conceal the video? A media coordinator of the party said, “We would neither make the video public nor show it on demand.” But why? He replied that it was a decision of the leadership. And the matter rests there. Chhotepur continuing with his diatribe against AAP said that the leadership of outsiders only wanted to exploit Punjab for vested interests. It was earlier felt that party with high morals would bring a positive change in the state.
But it was just a wishful thinking. In a new allegation, Chhotepur disclosed that the girl seen in objectionable position with a
Sandeep Kumar, a former minister in the Delhi government, was also photographed in the company of another senior AAP leader with her head resting on his shoulder. He promised to arrange the picture of that girl within next few days.Aam Aadmi Party leader Sucha Singh Chhotepur addressing the media at Chandigarh press club on Friday. (PTI Photo)