Who is Akhilesh Pati Tripathi, AAP MLA accused of accepting bribes? MCD elections cash-for-ticket case explained

Delhi MCD elections: The Delhi Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Wednesday arrested three people, including a close relative of AAP MLA Akhilesh Pati Tripathi, for allegedly accepting money to give a ticket to a Kamala Nagar resident for the upcoming MCD elections. Om Singh, the MLA's brother-in-law, Shiv Shankar Pandey, and Prince Raghuvanshi have been identified as those arrested by the agency. Gopal Khari, a resident of Ward Number 68, said he had paid a bribe of Rs 35 lakh to secure a ticket for his wife Shobha Khari. He lodged a complaint after her name didn't appear on the list of candidates. 

Khari said he had been associated with an active AAP worker for several years and he had met Tripathi on November 14. He claimed the MLA demanded a bribe of Rs 90 lakh to secure a ticket for his wife. ACB said Khari paid Rs 35 lakh to Tripathi and Rs 20 lakh to another AAP MLA Rajesh Gupta. 

Khari said Om Singh called him and said poll tickets will be given to his family in the next elections. He also offered to return the bribe money. 

"Khari also submitted audio and video recordings of his alleged dealings during payment and return of the bribe amount," an ACB official told ANI.

The trio was arrested when they came to return Rs 33 lakh out of the bribe. The agency said independent witnesses were present at the time of the arrest. 

The MCD elections will be held on December 4 and the counting will take place on December 7. 

Who is Akhilesh Pati Tripathi?

Akhilesh Pati Tripathi has been the MLA of Delhi's Model Town constituency since 2013, the first time the AAP government came to power. He was involved in the 2011 anti-corruption stir led by Anna Hazare. He joined AAP in 2012. 

In 2013, he defeated Indian National Congress's sitting MLA Kanwar Singh, and BJP's Ashok Goel. 

In 2014, he participated in a dharna near the Rail Bhavan against the Delhi Police that allegedly refused to crack down on a drug racket. He was detained along with several senior AAP leaders. He was also beaten by the police. 

In 2015, he was allegedly beaten by Congress workers a day before the elections. He had allegedly caught them distributing alcohol. He defeated BJP's Vivek Garg by a margin of 16,706 votes.

Tripathi was born in UP's Sant Kabir Nagar in 1984. His father was a schoolteacher. 

He came to Delhi in 2009 to prepare for the civil services examination. He reportedly couldn't clear the interview.

Also read: Delhi Elections Result: AAP's Akhilesh Pati Tripathi wins in Model Town constituency

He won the 2020 elections from the same constituency.

Earlier this year, he was booked for allegedly assaulting two men in Delhi.

"During the inquiry, it was revealed that Akhilesh Tripathi, the AAP MLA from Model Town constituency, reportedly assaulted two persons named Guddu Halwai and Mukesh Babu, who received injuries and were shifted to the BJRM hospital in Jahangirpuri," Deputy Commissioner of Police (northwest), Usha Rangnani had said.