Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate and social activist Mahendra Singh, who withdrew his candidature from the North-West Delhi seat on Tuesday, alleged Rakhi Birla, former minister in the Arvind Kejriwal government, had demanded a Rs 7-lakh “bribe” for supporting him in the Lok Sabha elections.
“I decided to quit (the race) because Birla had asked me to give Rs 7 lakh so that she can mobilise workers and give support to me in the elections,” Singh told Business Standard.
Singh said he had “verbally” conveyed his decision to the party and would write to it, stating the reasons for the withdrawal, on Wednesday. Birla had won the Delhi Assembly elections from Mangolpuri, which falls under the North-West Delhi constituency.
Singh alleged Birla had always been like that. “The party should not field corrupt candidates like her,” Singh said.
However, the party had a different version. According to AAP sources, Singh had been asked to step aside, as there were criminal charges against him and he was “tainted”.
Another AAP candidate, Khalid Parvez, who was fielded from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, also had to withdraw from the fight, as there were complaints that he was a bank defaulter.
