AAP Bareilly unit disbanded after cash-for-ticket racket

BAREILLY: The Aam Aadmi Party has 'temporarily dissolved' its Bareilly unit after an applicant for a Lok Sabha ticket alleged that some local party members demanded Rs 20,000 from him in the name of a 'jhadu yatra'.


Senior officials of the Rohilkhand region, under which the Bareilly division falls, have confirmed the development .

RK Raizada, a senior advocate practicing in the Supreme Court and the Lok Sabha applicant in question, told TOI on Thursday that on February 10 he received a message that each applicant for an AAP ticket for the general elections must contribute Rs 20, 000 for the 'jhadu yatra' .

"We were told that we must deposit the amount at the earliest in our party office," Raizada, who joined AAP three months ago, said. He added, "It was also mentioned that the contact person is Anshul Khanna, and that the information has gone out after discussions with Shashank Mehrotra, the district coordinator of the Bareilly unit."

Raizada said that when he contacted Dilip Nagina, the AAP secretary for the Rohilkhand region of Uttar Pradesh , "he assured me that no member of the party has to deposit any amount" . Raizada has now decided not to contest the Lok Sabha election.

In his reply to a query, Nagina said, "After I learned about the alleged demand of Rs 20,000 made by some local party members, I have temporarily dissolved the Bareilly unit of AAP."

Nagina, who reached Bareilly on Thursday to conduct an inquiry in the matter , added, "AAP members accused of demanding the money told me that the SMS Raizada received had a human error. They wanted to ask for a donation of Rs 2,000 for the yatra but an extra zero was added to the amount by mistake . The probe is going on and action would be taken if anyone is found guilty."