AAP says ready for probe; demands Congress, BJP funding also be probed

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday said it is ready for a government probe into its funding, but demanded that Congress and BJP also submit themselves to the same scrutiny. AAP has collected around Rs 19 crore till November 8 as donations.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today said it is ready for a government probe into its funding, but demanded that Congress and BJP also submit themselves to the same scrutiny.

"We welcome the government's order into our funding. We demand that the government also investigate into the funding of Congress and BJP," AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal told PTI.

AAP has collected around Rs 19 crore till November 8 as donations from 63,000 people, including a host of NRIs.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said that the inquiry has been ordered against AAP on receiving complaints regarding alleged foreign funding for it.

"Complaints have come to me. We are probing the matter....from where the funds are coming, from which country, what is the source etc. We are trying to find out all these," he told reporters here.

The Home Minister, however, said such a probe takes time and indicated that the outcome of the investigation may not come before the Delhi assembly elections scheduled to be held on December 4.

Kejriwal demanded that "the probe report should be out within 48 hours after the probe ends." AAP, while raising doubt over "swiftness" shown by the government for probe, said "in past 65 years, has Congress ever demanded probe into BJP's funding?" The party leaders also said the timing of the demand for probe indicates that Congress and BJP were "hand-in-glove".

Dikshit had yesterday questioned the source of funding of AAP, whose main election plank is to check corruption and which has been relentlessly attacking the Congress Chief Minister and her government on the issue.