Government orders investigation into AAP’s foreign fund sources

NEW DELHI: Putting the Aam Aadmi Party’s ( AAP) transparency claims to the test, the home ministry has ordered an inquiry into alleged foreign funding of the party after it received several complaints on this issue.

On Monday, a day after Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit questioned the source of AAP’s funds, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde admitted that an investigation into the matter was under way. “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 things,” said Shinde, declining to reveal any deadline for the probe.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal welcomed the inquiry but also demanded a similar investigation into the funding of the BJP and the Congress party.

The AAP had, until November 8, collected almost Rs 19 crore, of which a sizeable chunk has come from NRI donors across the world. The party, in an unprecedented move, has identified each of its donors.

Section 29B of the Representation of People Act, 1951, categorically prohibits political parties from taking donations from stateowned companies and foreign sources. AAP said its NRI donors are all Indian passport holders and hence their contribution cannot be tagged as foreign.

Confident that the party has not broken any law, an AAP statement issued on Monday questioned the “swiftness” with which the probe was undertaken when both Congress and BJP stand accused of accepting donations from a foreign company.

A public interest litigation filed by the Association of Democratic Reforms alleges that the two national parties got funding from a foreign company—Vedanta— which is not allowed under Sections 3 and 4 of the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act 1976.

“Thus the question is whether the other parties follow what they preach about transparency. Are they ready to share the source of their funding?” said the AAP statement.