Arvind Kejriwal accuses Election Commission of promoting bribery

AAP was born to fight corruption and is committed to put an end to it: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday accused the Election Commission of promoting bribery by banning him from telling people to take money from other parties but vote for the AAP.

Kejriwal also asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to make him its brand ambassador if it really wanted to end use of money to lure voters during elections.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader's letter to Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi comes after the poll panel censored him on Friday for violating the Model Code of Conduct and warning of stern action.

Kejriwal was accused of "deliberately and intentionally" instigating the public to take bribes for voting in the Goa assembly election of February 4.

"The allegation is baseless. The truth is I am trying to curb bribery. The whole nation knows the AAP was born to fight corruption and bribery and is committed to put an end to it," Kejriwal wrote in his letter.

Kejriwal said he was not instigating people to take bribes.

"What wrong am I saying? If I asked them to vote for the same party that they take money from, that would be bribery. I am telling them not to vote for the party which gives them money," he wrote.

"My statement will reduce bribery. When parties distributing money will realise that people won't vote for them even after taking money, they will stop distributing money," he added.

Kejriwal said the people of Delhi voted for AAP even after taking money from the Congress and the BJP and these parties would think twice before distributing money again as "they would feel it is of no use".

"Through my statement, I am trying to put an end to bribery. The Election Commission should make me its brand ambassador. The political parties will stop distributing money in just two years then.

"By stopping me from making my statement, the Election Commission is promoting bribery instead of curbing it. A Delhi court has also ruled that my statement doesn't instigate anyone to take bribes," Kejriwal added.

Kejriwal said the Election Commission was trying for 70 years to prevent the use of money to lure voters but this had only gone up.

"If the Election Commission accepts my statement and advertises that people should not vote for parties that offer them money, I assure parties will stop distributing money in two years," he said.