Punjab polls: AAP pick from Bhoa alleges party demanded Rs 1 crore after announcing his candidature

Another controversy stares AAP in the face amidst ongoing campaigning for the crucial Punjab polls. 

According to a Times of India report, Vinod Kumar, the party's official candidate from Bhoa has alleged that two senior party leaders, Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak, asked him to pay Rs 1 crore following the announcement of his candidature.

Kumar said that he was asked to pay Rs 1 crore to fund his campaign. He was told that if he could not pay, he would be given Rs 30 lakh to hold a press conference to announce his withdrawal from the race. "I was called on November 12, at a house in Sector 18, Chandigarh. AAP leaders Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak told me that I was not campaigning properly. They told me to get Rs 1 crore deposited. I told them that AAP was fighting against corruption and our agenda was to campaign and contest polls without spending money," Kumar told the daily.

Kumar who has worked as a journalist and is a registered medical practitioner (RMP), also alleged that Sanjay Singh made him speak to Kejriwal about paying Rs 1 crore. He says that the AAP CM asked him to do as Singh instructed him. "No official candidate of a party makes such charges and this is something very serious. I come from the border area and we have a tradition of fighting the enemy countries. We don't have so much money to pay the party," Kumar said.

Denying the allegations, the party said that Kumar's candidature was set to be withdrawn as his campaigning had not been up to the mark and that this was Kumar's way of forestalling it.

AAP in-charge of Punjab affairs Sanjay Singh said that Kumar was dishonest about his campaigning numbers. Singh said that Kumar was given an ultimate to either run an aggressive campaign or withdraw within a week. He also said that the party supported poll candidates coming from humble backgrounds with their campaigning.

Singh denied the allegation that Kumar was made to speak with Kejriwal.