Too Many High Value Donors to Vet? AAP Had Only 15 Last Year, Finds NDTV

New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal, whose Aam Aadmi Party has been accused of accepting nearly Rs 2 crore from dubious donors, claimed that the party received too many donations to be able to vet each.

NDTV studied the thousands of AAP donations over the past year to learn that only 15 donations were over Rs 10 lakh.

These include the four controversial donations that a group of former AAP members allege were a cover for money laundering. Other big donations were from PAR Computer Sciences, a computer firm from Maharashtra, and Adi Texfab from Gujarat. There were also multiple contributions from Vikram Lal, the former CEO of Eicher Motors, who has given the party Rs 65 lakh. AAP also received Rs 3 crore from Bajaj Electoral Trust.

The party says donations above Rs 10 lakh are screened by its Political Affairs Committee.

"At the higher level of the political party, we take a look at any big amount and check if it comes with any strings attached. If it does, it has to be returned," said party leader Yogendra Yadav, a member of the committee.

But a breakaway group called AAP Volunteer Action Manch alleges that four companies who donated Rs 50 lakh on April 4 last year, were registered under fake addresses and their financial statements didn't show any credible business activity or revenue.

Asked whether these donations were scrutinized, Mr Kejriwal told NDTV, "You spend half a day on (vetting) one company; there are 35,000 more. We will just be doing this throughout the day."

But 15 donations made over the course of a year should not be hard to scrutinise. When asked about this, the AAP chief countered: "We took Rs 2 crore through cheques. You have a problem with that? The BJP has taken Rs 2,500 crore in cash. Why is no one asking them any questions about that?"

The party says the funding controversy turned out to be a boon, as it managed to collect over Rs 79 lakh in donations on Tuesday - doubling its daily average - just after the allegations surfaced.

Story First Published: February 06, 2015 10:37 IST

http://www.ndtv.com/delhi-news/ndtv-investigation-aap-gets-15-donations-over-rs-10-lakh-but-has-no-time-to-check-them-737391