The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is making its debut in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections, is caught in the eye of a storm over a sting operation involving leading AAP members and candidates surfacing days before the polls. Manish Sisodia, AAP National Executive Committee member, and also a candidate from Patparganj, talks to Kavita Chowdhury rebutting allegations of any wrongdoing by its members and vows to fight back. Edited excerpts:
Do you think that this sting operation has hampered the electoral prospects of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)?
In the last 24 hours, after the tapes were aired we have been receiving a mixed reaction from the people. On the one hand, there is a view among our supporters that this (sting) was an assault from corrupt forces. There is also the other view that our party image - which was "hope for change" - could be affected. But this morning itself, I had RWAs from Patparganj calling me up and telling me not to worry and that they could see through the conspiracy. The fact that the channel concerned did not part with the raw footage also shows their complicity in it.
In your view, is this sting politically motivated? If so, who or which party is behind it?
It is undoubtedly 100 per cent politically motivated. See, only AAP was targeted and that too when the elections are only 10 days away. We have a credible and clean image and that's what they wanted to damage. Both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stand to benefit from it and we suspect both are involved. As for who funded the operation, whether it was the Congress or the BJP, that will come out only after investigation.
AAP held a press conference stating that they were leaving it to the Election Commission (EC) to examine the tapes. Why leave it to the wisdom of the EC? Shouldn't the party have taken a call when most of those shown in the sting are contesting candidates and senior office-bearers?
That's because the tapes are 100 per cent doctored. You can clearly see that it had been edited. The facts that are not established on tape have been put across through a voice-over. When did we have sting operation tapes with editorial inputs through voice-overs like this? I too have been a journalist for 10 years and I know how such things are done.
In our press conference, we showed instances of how a cut-and-paste job had been done. For instance, in Shazia Ilmi's case, she tried to fend off the reporter, but portions of it had been deleted.
While Kumar Vishwas is not contesting the polls, others are, and if the allegations against them are, hypothetically speaking, correct, then it amounts to a violation of the Code of Conduct and, therefore, it is the duty of the EC to probe it. We met Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath and have requested the EC to decide the matter as soon as possible. Fortunately, the EC had already obtained the raw footage. Media Sarkar refused to give us the raw footage. We intend to issue defamation notices against Media Sarkar and also against the television channels that aired the sting without verification.
Isn't your party symbol, the "broom", which was meant to cleanse the system of all corruption, itself under a question mark?
No. We think it's a natural evolution process. Since we have been exposing corruption and scams of others, it's natural that we will also be subjected to maximum scrutiny and targeted the most. It's on expected lines. In fact, we believe that such tests will prove us to be more transparent in the eyes of the public.
See, this is the latest in a series of attacks against us - first it was the Prashant Bhushan CD, then it was the foreign funding issue. None of those charges stuck. I believe if you are clean, then your image is not tainted.
What is the status of the foreign funding issue. According to the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA), political parties are prohibited from receiving donations from foreigners.
According to the FCRA guidelines, non-resident Indians, who are Indian passport holders, can donate money - that is not barred under the FCRA. Foreigners can't donate money. More, during online donations they have to file in their Permanent Account Number and passport details. So, we are confident that there has been no violation. The home ministry questioned us and we have provided all the information.
A lot of questions have been raised about the party finances. Even the mentor-like figure for AAP, Anna Hazare, has levelled allegations of misuse of funds from the Jan Lokpal agitation.
It was shocking for us as well. But the next day itself Anna clarified. He said he does not suspect Arvind (Kejriwal). The timing of the release of the CD is suspect. It was recorded sometime earlier and released just before the polls.
Look at the sequence of events. First, the Congress said we were funded by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the BJP. Then the BJP accused us of being funded by the Congress. Then both said we were foreign-funded. Now they've alleged that money from the India Against Corruption movement was misused.
These are forces who are trying to defame us since the beginning but all their efforts have failed. Anna is being fed wrong information.
This is AAP's first electoral outing where you have to establish yourself as a political force garnering votes. After all these, do you think your vote share prospects have been affected?
Yesterday, Shazia Ilmi (AAP candidate from R K Puram) offered to step down but that was her own personal opinion. But, we, as a party, have taken a stand to fight it out. We did receive a rude jolt but we have bounced back. Tomorrow, if 10 of our candidates are found guilty, we will not let them contest the elections. Our credibility, thereby, will be more cemented. Unlike the Congress and the BJP, we don't field corrupt candidates and say that let the people decide if they are corrupt or not. We are saying that let it be decided after examining the raw footage. And all these attacks are not entirely unexpected, we knew what kind of politics we were pitting ourselves against. We believe the voters will reaffirm their faith in us.
But Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has dismissed AAP as a serious contender...
The chief minister has dismissed the existence of the aam aadmi, the common man, itself for the last 15 years. That's why we are here, that's why AAP has been compelled to contest the polls. For Sheila Dikshit, it's only herself and her son, Sandeep Diskhit, that count.
Do you think that this sting operation has hampered the electoral prospects of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)?
In the last 24 hours, after the tapes were aired we have been receiving a mixed reaction from the people. On the one hand, there is a view among our supporters that this (sting) was an assault from corrupt forces. There is also the other view that our party image - which was "hope for change" - could be affected. But this morning itself, I had RWAs from Patparganj calling me up and telling me not to worry and that they could see through the conspiracy. The fact that the channel concerned did not part with the raw footage also shows their complicity in it.
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The national executive of AAP met soon after the sting was aired and we believe that this is an attempt to damage the credibility of AAP. Many of our supporters have told us not to lose heart and to fight it out, so we strongly rebut these allegations. Our political affairs committee had a meeting and on the basis of the feedback, they found that the people are angry with the whole episode.
In your view, is this sting politically motivated? If so, who or which party is behind it?
It is undoubtedly 100 per cent politically motivated. See, only AAP was targeted and that too when the elections are only 10 days away. We have a credible and clean image and that's what they wanted to damage. Both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stand to benefit from it and we suspect both are involved. As for who funded the operation, whether it was the Congress or the BJP, that will come out only after investigation.
AAP held a press conference stating that they were leaving it to the Election Commission (EC) to examine the tapes. Why leave it to the wisdom of the EC? Shouldn't the party have taken a call when most of those shown in the sting are contesting candidates and senior office-bearers?
That's because the tapes are 100 per cent doctored. You can clearly see that it had been edited. The facts that are not established on tape have been put across through a voice-over. When did we have sting operation tapes with editorial inputs through voice-overs like this? I too have been a journalist for 10 years and I know how such things are done.
In our press conference, we showed instances of how a cut-and-paste job had been done. For instance, in Shazia Ilmi's case, she tried to fend off the reporter, but portions of it had been deleted.
While Kumar Vishwas is not contesting the polls, others are, and if the allegations against them are, hypothetically speaking, correct, then it amounts to a violation of the Code of Conduct and, therefore, it is the duty of the EC to probe it. We met Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath and have requested the EC to decide the matter as soon as possible. Fortunately, the EC had already obtained the raw footage. Media Sarkar refused to give us the raw footage. We intend to issue defamation notices against Media Sarkar and also against the television channels that aired the sting without verification.
Isn't your party symbol, the "broom", which was meant to cleanse the system of all corruption, itself under a question mark?
No. We think it's a natural evolution process. Since we have been exposing corruption and scams of others, it's natural that we will also be subjected to maximum scrutiny and targeted the most. It's on expected lines. In fact, we believe that such tests will prove us to be more transparent in the eyes of the public.
See, this is the latest in a series of attacks against us - first it was the Prashant Bhushan CD, then it was the foreign funding issue. None of those charges stuck. I believe if you are clean, then your image is not tainted.
What is the status of the foreign funding issue. According to the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA), political parties are prohibited from receiving donations from foreigners.
According to the FCRA guidelines, non-resident Indians, who are Indian passport holders, can donate money - that is not barred under the FCRA. Foreigners can't donate money. More, during online donations they have to file in their Permanent Account Number and passport details. So, we are confident that there has been no violation. The home ministry questioned us and we have provided all the information.
A lot of questions have been raised about the party finances. Even the mentor-like figure for AAP, Anna Hazare, has levelled allegations of misuse of funds from the Jan Lokpal agitation.
It was shocking for us as well. But the next day itself Anna clarified. He said he does not suspect Arvind (Kejriwal). The timing of the release of the CD is suspect. It was recorded sometime earlier and released just before the polls.
Look at the sequence of events. First, the Congress said we were funded by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the BJP. Then the BJP accused us of being funded by the Congress. Then both said we were foreign-funded. Now they've alleged that money from the India Against Corruption movement was misused.
These are forces who are trying to defame us since the beginning but all their efforts have failed. Anna is being fed wrong information.
This is AAP's first electoral outing where you have to establish yourself as a political force garnering votes. After all these, do you think your vote share prospects have been affected?
Yesterday, Shazia Ilmi (AAP candidate from R K Puram) offered to step down but that was her own personal opinion. But, we, as a party, have taken a stand to fight it out. We did receive a rude jolt but we have bounced back. Tomorrow, if 10 of our candidates are found guilty, we will not let them contest the elections. Our credibility, thereby, will be more cemented. Unlike the Congress and the BJP, we don't field corrupt candidates and say that let the people decide if they are corrupt or not. We are saying that let it be decided after examining the raw footage. And all these attacks are not entirely unexpected, we knew what kind of politics we were pitting ourselves against. We believe the voters will reaffirm their faith in us.
But Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has dismissed AAP as a serious contender...
The chief minister has dismissed the existence of the aam aadmi, the common man, itself for the last 15 years. That's why we are here, that's why AAP has been compelled to contest the polls. For Sheila Dikshit, it's only herself and her son, Sandeep Diskhit, that count.