ad

Monday, May 4, 2015

AAP's Vishwas denies allegations of 'illicit relationship', accuses rivals of dirty politics

New Delhi: AAP's Kumar Vishwas, who has been summoned by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on the basis of a complaint filed by a female party worker that he had an illicit relationship with her, on Monday dismissed all allegations and accused the media of planting baseless stories.

The DCW has asked Vishwas to appeared before it on Tuesday.

"The girl has given a complaint letter to the police commissioner and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal," said DCW chairperson Barkha Shukla Singh.

The Aam Aadmi Party leader, however, denied he has received any summon from the panel and asked the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress to stop playing dirty politics.

"All allegations are untrue. The BJP is running a false campaign to malign me," said Vishwas.

"We know the BJP and the Congress are in pain due to results of Delhi polls," the AAP leader added.

"This is only being done to bring us down, but I will keep on fighting against such dirty politics. We are not going to be scared."

Vishwas also attacked the media saying some news channels are trying to malign the characters of AAP leaders.

"Stories are being planted (by media) and a wrong campaign is being run but such people have forgotten that they too have families," he said.

"Please keep some moral discipline, don't attack our families."

The AAP leader also said the woman has filed complaint against 4 people and has said efforts are made to defame her and that no action has been taken till date.

"That woman has emailed me. She has clearly written that 'bhaiya' I have filed a complaint, what should I do next," he said.

His party too put its weight behind him with AAP's Sanjay Singh dismissing allegations against Vishwas and saying that all reports are baseless.

"I request the media to not run any baseless or false news against us. It affects our families," Singh told reporters during a press conference.

"The woman has filed a complaint against 4 people and her complaint does not say anything about an illicit affair. But it is still being propagated from that angle," he added.

Earlier, the AAP's political rivals were quick to react as reports of him being summoned by the DCW emerged.

"It's unfair on the part of Kumar Vishwas to keep quiet on issue of dignity of his female worker when the matter relates to him," said BJP leader RP Singh.

"Whether it's Kumar Vishwas or any other person, if a girl's dignity has been violated to such an extent, it must be probed," said Shazia Ilmi, Vishwas' former AAP colleague and currently a BJP leader.

Congress too wasn't far behind and sought an investigation into the "serious" matter.

"These allegations are very serious. There must be a thorough investigation," said Congress' Ajay Maken.

The allegations against Vishwas first emerged on March 31 when Twitter exploded with numerous photographs of Vishwas and AAP's women supporters, posted by various users.

The hashtag - #exposingkumarvishwas - started trending on Twitter, with users divided in their opinions about the poet-turned-politician. The controversy was fuelled by senior party leader Anand Kumar's statement that the party rift would reach the bedrooms and drawing rooms of the leaders.

A series of emails exchanged between the top leadership of the party, deciding the course of action - after they received a complaint against Vishwas - has come to light.

In December last year, senior party officials received an email from a man - claiming to be one Ajay Vohra - accusing Vishwas of accepting black money and indulging in a physical relationship with a volunteer from Amethi constituency, from where he was contesting.

In the emails, it was also alleged that Vishwas' wife also knew about it. Source: HT