Home ministry to probe 'illegal' foreign funds of party

The Union home ministry will inspect the books of accounts of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after the outfit claimed that it collected Rs19 crore from 63,000 donors, including NRIs, for the Delhi assembly elections. The probe will look at the alleged illegal foreign funding of AAP.

The government, however, said the home ministry came into the picture only because of a Delhi high court directive in response to a PIL. The AAP said it was ready for a probe. “If we are found guilty of any wrongdoing, we will accept double the punishment,” AAP leader Yogendra Yadav said.

A study shows that 75 per cent of the funding of political parties comes from unknown sources.

According to the Association for Democratic Reforms, between 2004-05 and 2011-12, the parties were recipients of Rs3,674 crore from unknown sources. They received funds to the tune of Rs4,895 crore in this period.

The tax returns filed by the parties show that 82.5 per cent (Rs1,951 crore) funds to the Congress came from unknown sources. For the BJP, it was 73 per cent (Rs952.5 crore).