Maqsood ul Hasan Qazmi quits AAP, alleges party-corporate nexus

Adding to the heat and dust of general elections, Maqsood ul Hasan Qazmi resigned Monday as a member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s national council, expressing his displeasure over the alleged nexus between the party and certain corporate groups.

At a press conference here, Qazmi, also the president of Imam Council of India, made a number of allegations about the AAP and said AAP founder-leader Arvind Kejriwal mentioned only two business houses in his public speeches - referring to the party's scathing attacks against Reliance Industries and the Adani Group. "You always attack Ambani but praise Ratan Tata. Why?" asked Qazmi, resigning from the AAP's highest decision-making body. "Is it because you (Kejriwal) worked with Tata from 1989 to 1992?" Qazmi asked.

"I know that a member of an influential business family is the source of all the documents and information used by AAP leader Prashant Bhushan. Mr. Bhushan is using Arvind Kejriwal on behalf of a certain group to settle scores in the business rivalry," Qazmi alleged. "It is a fact that AAP has now become a part of this corporate war."

Accusing Kejriwal of not being true to his words, Qazmi also alleged that while Delhi's former chief minister had used the Muslim leader's influence to "enter" the city's areas with large Muslim populations, he had not condemned the riots in Muzzafarnagar, that had severely affected the minority community in the area. "Why did you not condemn Muzaffarnagar riots?" Qazmi asked.

He, however, was unable to give a satisfactory reply to a reporter's query about why he was coming out with these allegations after voting has been completed in majority of the constituencies.