New Delhi: The barrage of allegations against the Aam Aadmi Party seem to have created a sense of doubt among Delhi voters, on as whether the party that stormed into the political arena on an anti-corruption wave is actually as clean as it projects itself to be. Sting footage published by news portal Media sarkar alleged that the AAP candidate from Delhi’s RK Puram constituency, Shazia Ilmi, offered to help a businessman in exchange for money. Rift in the party. AFP Even though the party attempted to do some damage control by promising an investigation, Delhi voters are already questioning if AAP’s anti-corruption stand was just an attempt to gain some cheap publicity. Significantly, the allegations have surfaced against AAP shortly after Anna Hazare‘s letter to Kejriwal. And now AAP supporters who rejected the letter as a publicity stunt by Anna are suddenly having second thoughts. “I still don’t believe that our leaders can do such a thing but the video has clearly left a doubt,” says Mukesh Khatri, an AAP supporter, who came to see the press conference in which the party leadership came out to defend Ilmi. “The party today is not the same that was formed after the Anna‘s movement. But I think still they are a better option than the other parties we have been voting for last 15 years,” says an AAP supporter, who claims to have joined the party for its staunch anti-corruption stand. However, rubbishing the sting operation footage, AAP said that they studied the sting operation footage and reached the conclusion that it is doctored with the intention of maligning the party. AAP felt that since the party has managed to threaten established political outfits like the Congress and BJP in the run up to the 2013 assembly election, it is being unduly targetted. “The footage has been doctored by the media house before publishing it in the public domain. Parts have been edited out to show suspicious words out of context,” said AAP leader Yogendra Yadav. “Dirty tricks are being played by Congress and BJP,” he added. But this has failed to stop questions from being raised against AAP leaders. Another AAP leader Kumar Biswas has also been accused of taking money for arranging an election ticket. With two national leaders being accused of corruption, the party has swung into action. “We want to file a case of criminal defamation against Anuranjan Jha of Media Sarkar and the news channel that ran the video without cross checking the content,” said Yadav. “We want to appeal to the Election Commission to investigate the video urgently and take a decision within 48 hours.” Despite its outward show of defiance and the party’s refusal to accept that the allegations will damage it, insiders say that the charges have already created feuds inside the party. Meanwhile the Congress didn’t miss the opportunity to attack AAP. “Even though it’s yet to be proved that the AAP leaders are guilty, such allegations will only make people aware of what they are going to opt for,” said a Delhi Congress leader.
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