Kejriwal alleges nexus between BJP's Satish Upadhyay and power companies

BJP Delhi President Upadhyay dismisses charges; says will file defamation case

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday alleged a nexus between Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Delhi chief Satish Upadhyay and power companies in the national capital.

Kejriwal alleged Upadhyay owned six firms that install and replace meters for one of the Delhi’s two private power distribution companies. AAP also alleged BJP’s Delhi vice-president Ashish Sood, was director in one of these firms till last year. Both leaders dismissed Kejriwal’s claims and said they would file a criminal defamation case against him.

“Our investigations have shown Upadhyay owns six firms and he is the majority shareholder and director in one of them. Sood was the director of a company till last year. These companies provide services to BSES (a discom),” Kejriwal said at a press conference here. The AAP leader showed tax deducted at source certificates of one of the firms named NCNL Infomedia Private Limited. Kejriwal said the BJP leaders should give a clarification on these matters of “conflict of interest”.

“No such company exists by this name that Kejriwal has alleged. We will file a criminal defamation case. I give him 24 hours to either provide a proof of the alleged companies or he should quit politics,” Upadhyay said at a press conference.

Kejriwal also claimed these documents were provided by some “insider” from BJP. “I won’t reveal the name but it shows the widening crack within that party,” the former Delhi chief minister said, adding there would be more revelations in the coming days.

Kejriwal said AAP had got the details about the firms through the website www.indiamart.com which showed these have been supplying, installing and replacing meters along with conducting metering work for power companies in Delhi.

He also alleged NCNL Infomedia Private Limited “appears to have two TINs (tax identification numbers)”. According to rules, a single trade name cannot have two TIN numbers. “The whistleblower has said the motive behind this is to make dubious bills,” AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha said.

Kejriwal said it was not a legal issue but a political “conflict of interest”.

Shazia Ilmi to join BJP

BJP is keen to field either former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Shazia Ilmi or retired cop Kiran Bedi against former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi constituency. However, neither of the two has yet confirmed their willingness to contest against the AAP chief. Reports suggested that Ilmi, who had contested and lost the 2014 Lok Sabha elections on AAP ticket against retired Army Chief V K Singh from Ghaziabad constituency, might campaign for the BJP in the Assembly elections. She is yet to join BJP. Ilmi was unavailable for comment.