AAP slams BJP for ‘scare tactics’ over I-T notice to Delhi MLA Atishi

NEW DELHI:  The Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi on Wednesday accused the BJP of ‘vendetta politics’ after she was served a notice by the Income Tax department.

The I-T department has served a notice to the AAP MLA, regarding non-declaration of FD and mutual fund savings by the leader in her election affidavit.

The Aam Aadmi Party has termed it as a ‘scare tactic’ by the BJP-led central government.

“Would like to say to the BJP’s central government that we are not scared of your threats. We people, who have left their jobs in different fields to join politics, we’ve come because we want to change the politics of this country. We are not scared of the BJP’s hollow threats,” said Atishi in response to the I-T department notice.

The AAP defended it leader and said that the notice was sent only because, in the affidavit submitted for the 2020 assembly elections, Atishi had declared that she has movable assets worth Rs 69.79 lakh in the form of fixed deposits and mutual funds in her bank account.

AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj termed the notice ‘laughable’ and said that it was ‘surprising’ to see this notice given the upper-middle class background of Atishi.

“She (Atishi) got a very prestigious scholarship called the Chevening scholarship through which she pursued MA at Oxford University. And after this, she did her MSc in Education at the Oxford University via the world’s most prestigious scholarship— the Rhodes Scholarship. If someone has such qualifications and works in a job for 8 to 10 years, it is very easy to make enough money that, if kept in a bank for 7-8 years can become 50-60 lakh rupees,” added Bhardwaj in the defence of Atishi.