Suspended AAP man hails cap on cash donations to parties

US-based doctor Munish Raizada, who has launched an online petition "Chanda Bandh Satyagraha" against AAP, has welcomed Finance Minister Arun Jaitely's move in the Budget to put a cap on cash donations to political parties.
Chicago, US-based Raizada, who was co-convener of NRI Cell of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has been placed under suspension by the Delhi-headquartered fledging outfit.
Raizada, who has accused AAP leaders of not divulging details of donations received by the party from different donors globally, launched "Chanda Bandh Satyagraha" (no donation campaign) in December last year.
"We welcome Jaitely's decision to cap cash political donations at Rs 2,000 per source. Also, the decision of the Finance Minister to enhance electronic and digital mode of political donations will help curb use of black money in politics," Raizada said in a statement.

The proposal to issue electoral bonds is also a welcome step. Unregulated, undisclosed and opaque political funding is the root cause of corruption and reforms in political funding is the need of the hour, he said.
Raizada is currently engaged in an internal battle with the Arvind Kejriwal-headed party.

"The campaign is aimed at seeking a pledge from the public not to donate to AAP if it does not display its donor's list," he said.
AAP came into politics with a promise of 100 per cent transparency in political funding, but since June 2016, has scrapped the list of donors from its website, he said.

Raizada, a neo-natologist practising in Chicago, claimed his satyagrah has been a "great success", and in Delhi alone, more than 20,000 people have signed the pledge.