The Aam Aadmi Party and how it handles donations: My personal experience as a donor.

Recently, there have been reports and news items going around, majorly promoted by other political parties which have also been highlighted by the media that the Aam Aadmi Party launders money.

This allegation was based on 4 donations of Rs. 50 lakhs each in April 2014 which were traced to 4 companies not carrying out any business activities. The money was received by cheques and it was posted in the website of the AAP. Here are the questions which people must ask but are not asking-

1. Why is the issue being brought up now? The funds were received in April 2014.

2. If the AAP had laundered money, why did they put up all these details on their website? They could have easily not disclosed these payments.

I decided to donate some money to the AAP to support them in the upcoming Delhi Elections. At the same time I wanted to test their transparency. Following was my experience-

The following fields were mandatory while filling up the details, without which I could not proceed. (see the Image 1) This ensures authenticity of the donors. I proceeded to donate.

Mandatory Fields (Image 1)

Here is what happened within 10 seconds of my donating-

1. I got a call with a pre-recorded message in the voice of Arvind Kejriwal thanking me for my support.
2. I got an email from AAP mentioning the receipt no. of the donation and also received a Donation Certificate (See Image 2)
3. My name was listed on their website as a donor with the amount of donation. This came in within 2 minutes of my donation timing. (See Image 3)

Donation Certificate (Image 2)

List of Donors on AAP's Website (Image 3)

Here is what happened after 5 minutes-

1. I got an email from my bank confirming the debit.
2. I got an SMS from my bank confirming the debit.

How much more transparent do you expect a political party to be?

My above experience only goes on to prove that the AAP is way more organised, better governed and efficient than a private sector bank. I am now totally confident that they will use public funds effectively and deliver when they come to power in Delhi.

My heartfelt thanks to the founding members of the AAP for the IAC movement and when that fizzled out, for not giving up and to continue fighting for the people of India and most importantly for your impeccable integrity and strong moral fibre! We, the people of India are indeed very gracious.
Win or Lose, you have already made your place in millions of lives.

Jai Hind!