Some of the fiercest criticism of Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party or AAP has revolved around their  unsubstantiated claims of corruption against political opponents and industrialists.

Today, it was AAP that was accused of swindling money by a group of former members and supporters; they said that AAP received 50 lakhs last year through four bogus companies that were fronts for money-laundering.   The quartet allegedly donated money at midnight on April 15 last year.   "We can safely call it 'hawala at midnight', " said Shazia Ilmi, who quit AAP in May 2014 and joined the BJP last month.  

Delhi votes in less than a week for its next government.  Mr Kejriwal is asking voters for a second chance as Chief Minister.  "We've taken all donations by cheque. If the companies raised that money through some sort of violations, then how are we responsible for that?" asked Mr Kejriwal on a townhall show organized by NDTV. "We have a BJP government (at the centre) Let it investigate. Please punish me if anything wrong is found," he added.

The controversial donations are declared on the AAP website.

The group of activists who took on AAP today refer to themselves as AVAM (AAP Volunteer Action Manch). They alleged that Mr Kejriwal's two-year-old party is not being transparent about how it raises money and lists fake addresses of its donors on its website.

AVAM was launched in August last year, and many of its members accused Mr Kejriwal of turning AAP into a one-man show with little tolerance for criticism.  The BJP, which has enlisted top union ministers and nearly 120 MPs to coordinate its campaign in Delhi for the election, said AAP, founded on a pledge to fight corruption, stands exposed.  "Mr Kejriwal should stop lecturing other parties," said the BJP's Nirmala Sitharaman.

"AVAM is not an 'independent NGO'. It is a group of people who were thrown out of AAP for reasons ranging from dishonesty to criminality," said AAP's Vishal Dadlani.

Source: NDTV