Three men, including the brother-in-law of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA, Akhilesh Tripathi were arrested for allegedly taking ₹90 lakh from a party worker for a ticket in the forthcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, officials of the anti-corruption branch (ACB) said on Tuesday.
ACB chief Madhur Verma said Om Singh, who is Tripathi’s brother-in-law, along with his two accomplices, Shiv Shankar Pandey (personal assistant of MLA Tripathi) and Prince Raghuvanshi were caught with ₹35 lakh that they were returning to the complainant because the party worker’s name was not in the list of those who were given tickets to contest the election next month.
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Despite many calls and text messages, Tripathi who is a legislator from Model Town constituency, was not available for comments.
The MCD election will take place on December 4.
Shedding light on the case details, the ACB said on November 14, the complainant Gopal Khari approached the ACB alleging that MLA Tripathi had asked for a bribe of ₹90 lakh to get a ticket from ward 69 (Kamla Nagar) for his wife, Shobha Khari.
“The complainant paid a bribe of ₹35 lakh to MLA Akhilesh Tripathi and ₹20 lakh to MLA of Wazirpur, Rajesh Gupta on the instructions of MLA Tripathi. He assured MLA Tripathi that the remaining money would be paid after his wife got the ticket. On November 12, the complainant did not find his wife’s name in the list of candidates released by party. The accused Om Singh contacted Khari (complainant) and said that the money will be returned and that he will give his wife a ticket in the next election. Khari has submitted video and audio recording of the conversation,” said ACB chief Verma.
{{/usCountry}}“The complainant paid a bribe of ₹35 lakh to MLA Akhilesh Tripathi and ₹20 lakh to MLA of Wazirpur, Rajesh Gupta on the instructions of MLA Tripathi. He assured MLA Tripathi that the remaining money would be paid after his wife got the ticket. On November 12, the complainant did not find his wife’s name in the list of candidates released by party. The accused Om Singh contacted Khari (complainant) and said that the money will be returned and that he will give his wife a ticket in the next election. Khari has submitted video and audio recording of the conversation,” said ACB chief Verma.
{{/usCountry}}The officer said on the intervening night of November 15-16, ACB laid a trap at Khari’s residence and caught the three men while returning the ₹35 lakh bribe money.
“We have registered a case and are probing the role of other people in the case,” added Verma.
The BJP said that ACB will have enough proof to establish it, as they have arrested people in the bribery matter. BJP member of Parliament (MP) from West Delhi Parvesh Verma said it is not the first time such allegations have come to light and that the AAP had been giving tickets to people who have money.
“This is not the first time such allegations have been levelled. When the civic polls were postponed six months back, similar allegations were levelled by their party workers who had posted videos alleging that they had paid ₹50 lakh for a ticket and now the money was not being returned,” he said.
Verma alleged that close to 150 out of 250 tickets for the municipal elections have been given to people who had nothing to do with the AAP till a day back when the names were announced. “We have been saying this for a long time (they take money for tickets). That’s why their party workers are angry. If a person has ₹1 crore, then he will get a ticket. In the AAP, party workers don’t get tickets, this everyone knows,” said Verma.
“We have seen it in Rajya Sabha. They got four businessmen who had nothing to do with the party till a few days before their names were announced. Only the AAP can tell what’s the reason behind this?” he added.
Meanwhile, the Aam Admi Party said that the development is a validation that their party tickets cannot be bought by paying money and the party has passed in this test.
Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said that this development is a “matter of satisfaction” for the party as it shows that even if anyone is exchanging money for seeking party ticket, the ticket allocation process is not affected. “This chain of events shows a good thing about our party. Someone paid money to someone but they still could not get the party ticket. I see a silver lining in it and the AAP has passed in this test. This is a solid proof that money does not have impact in the functioning of the Aam Admi Party,” Sisodia said.
The deputy CM added that he would like to appeal to all people that they should never believe a person who claims to help them seeking a party ticket in exchange for money. “The nomination process for MCD election is now over but even for the future, I would like to appeal people not to believe such people who are offering party tickets. This case has proved that even after allegedly paying money, the person did not get the party ticket,” Sisodia said.
Sisodia said that an independent investigation should be carried out and if anyone is found to be duping people in the name of AAP then strict action should be taken against them.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that the party has never stood to defend guilty people but investigation should be allowed to happen. “No one should be harassed unnecessarily but if anyone is found guilty then strictest possible action should be taken against them,” Singh said.