Bribe remark: Election Commission sends notice to AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi, Jan 20: The Election Commission on Tuesday sent notice to AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal to explain his comments by Thursday, for asking people to take bribe for voting.

The former Delhi chief minister Kejriwal was to file his nomination for the Feb 7 assembly polls from New Delhi constituency on Tuesday.

The EC notice to Kejriwal comes a day after when Congress had asked the EC to take criminal action against Kejriwal for inducing voters to accept bribes.

Kejriwal is expected to file his nomination on Wednesday, Jan 21, TV reports said.

In its complaint to poll panel chief H S Brahma, the party said the statement made by Kejriwal was in "clear violation of Model Code of Conduct".

Kejriwal on Sunday had appealed to people to "accept money doled out by both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but cast votes for AAP" in the Delhi assembly elections Feb 7.

In the complaint, the Congress said, "The statement cannot simply be described as irresponsible but has to be viewed with utmost seriousness and gravity to even take criminal actions against him for the purity for electoral process."

"It is totally derogatory and scandalizing. By making such statement, apart from instigating people to indulge in bribe and corruption, he (Kejriwal) has maligned the democratic institution and the process," said the letter.

Congress leader Ajay Maken told reporters that not only was the remark "irresponsible but is also unconstitutional. Asking people to accept bribe is equal to bribing them".

In the 2013 assembly polls, Kejriwal had defeated the then Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit from New Delhi by nearly 26,000 votes.

In these polls, he is set to contest against BJP's young leader Nupur Sharma and Congress leader Kiran Walia.

OneIndia News

(With agency inputs)