The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has filed a complaint with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Parvesh Verma and Manjinder Singh Sirsa, accusing them of orchestrating a ‘vote buying’ operation by allegedly giving cash to people ahead of them. of the Delhi Assembly elections, party leaders said on Thursday.
Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh filed the complaint and urged ED to initiate a probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) into what he alleged was a “cash-for-vote scam”. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)
Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh filed the complaint and urged ED to initiate a probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) into what he alleged was a “cash-for-vote scam”.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) refuted the allegations and said the AAP was trying to divert people’s attention from their mistakes.
Addressing a press conference after filing the complaint with the ED office, Singh alleged that crores of rupees of unaccounted cash are lying in Verma’s residence and are allegedly being used to bribe voters. The same has been captured on video, he claimed.
“There is a massive vote-buying operation going on in Delhi, right under the noses of key agencies. Voters are being bribed in Arvind Kejriwal’s constituency ₹1,100. Moreover, millions of rupees could potentially be recovered from former BJP MP Parvesh Verma’s residence if ED conducts a raid. This is illegal money openly distributed to buy votes. Photos and videos of women receiving ₹1,100, with a card bearing the PM’s photo, were captured by journalists,” Singh said.
Singh also alleged that Verma and other BJP members “concocted false and misleading documents to deceive the public in the name of a government scheme”.
The cash distribution allegations were first spotted by the AAP a day ago Wednesdayin which the party said Verma was “openly handing out money” to voters in New Delhi’s assembly segment from his residence at 20 Windsor Place, Lutyens Delhi. Verma refuted the claims and said it was about providing financial assistance to needy women registered with NGO Rashtriya Swabhiman Sansthan, which was founded 25 years ago by his father, former Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma.
Singh, however, questioned the timing of the aid.
“NGO funds are distributed with the Prime Minister’s photo on it. During Verma’s 10 years as an MP, he never distributed NGO money. Why is it being distributed now ahead of the elections? The millions of rupees in illegal funds they have are used to distribute cash. This is a direct case of money laundering,” Singh alleged.
He further criticized investigative agencies, including ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation, and the Income Tax Department, for their alleged inaction against the BJP leaders while targeting opposition parties.
Singh added that despite prior information, no officer had met the AAP leaders at the ED office. He further said that the AAP will also take the complaint to the CBI, IT department and Election Commission of India.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor, meanwhile, said Singh was “making a fuss over non-issues to divert attention from the AAP’s “dirty politics”.
“The BJP stands behind women empowerment and supports the needy women and our governments in most states are supporting the women through stipend schemes. Sanjay Singh’s problem is that his party is being exposed for asking women to sign up for a non-existent government program at their party level and so he too, like his party colleagues, is trying to mislead the women of Delhi,” said Kapoor.