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Publication: The Times Of India Ahmedabad;

Date: Sep 11, 2011;

Section: Front Page;

Page: 1

Parties get bulk of funds from unnamed donors

Pradeep Thakur | TNN

New Delhi: Political parties are sourcing a major chunk of their funds from unidentified donors, according to their income-tax returns.

Donors’ lists and tax returns filed by the Congress, BJP,NCP andBSPfor the past five years show they have not identified those who account for most of their funding.

For instance, the Congress collected at least Rs 978 crore through sale of coupons in the five years till 2008-09, for which it has not provided any contributors’ listto authorities. In comparison, contributions collected by the ruling party with donors' names account for a mere Rs 85 crore in the same period.

The BJP, which has not proved as successful in gathering funds while in opposition, has made Rs 30 crore through sale of its Ajivan Sahyog Nidhi coupons in the five years between 2005 and 2009. In comparison, it has received Rs 95 crore from identified donors.

The BSP, despite its smaller size, has been more successful and innovative in its collection of funds.The party received more than Rs 200 crore through cash donations in just two years (2007-08 and 2008-09). It has not made any disclosure about who its contributors are, claiming that all donations received by it are below Rs 20,000. When I-T authorities tried to unearth the identities of its donors, the BSP successfully argued that all its contributions in cash are made by poor supporters, out of love and affection for the party leader.

The Representation of People Act states that political parties are required to submit details of contributions received in excess of Rs 20,000 from any person or a company.

Those familiar with the issue feel that it is no coincidence that most of the donations don’t exceed Rs 20,000 and thus contributors remain unidentified. While the I-T department finds nothing amiss about it, the pattern of parties getting funds from people who wish to stay anonymous has engaged the attention of anti-graft campaigners. Flush from their success in pressuring the government on the Lokpal bill, they have now decided to campaign for full transparency in political funding.

Income-Tax authorities have looked at accounts of four major political parties – Congress, BJP, BSP and CPM –for two assessment yearsbetween 2006 and 2008. Though they found everything in order and also certified the accounts of these parties, activists led by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has demanded a thorough probe into parties receiving undisclosed contributions whichconstituteup to90%of their total funds collected in any particular year.

The ADR has written to the Central Board of Direct Taxes demanding a probe into the large cash donations received by political parties. “There is a dire need for a thorough investigation and scrutiny of the source and flow of such donations to curb the flow of black money into the coffers of political parties,” said Anil Bairwal, coordinator of ADR.

THIS REPORT PUBLISHED COURTSEY TIMES -MUMBAI-RESPECTED AND LONG STANDING ENGLISH DAILY EXPOSES THE ROOT CAUSE OF WHERE THE COUNTRY IS HEADED TO-DAY

AN ORDINARY CITIZEN IF FOUND NOT BEING ABLE TO EXPLAIN HIS BENAAMI INCOME IS PUNISHED BY HAVING TO PAY PENALTY AND TAX IF HIS TOTAL INCOME IS TAXABLE?

WHO PROVIDED FOR POLITICAL PARTIES BEING PERMITTED TO RECEIVE EACH DONATION BELOW20000 FROM BENAMI NON EXISTING ENTITY IS TO BE EXEMPTED IF

THEY HAPPEN TO BE POLITICAL PARTIES?

DO MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO CLAIM TO BE CONCIOUS OF BEING OUR MORALE GUIDE AND THEIR PARTIES HAVE NO MORALE OBLIGATION?

100 LOK PAL BILLS WILL FAIL IF WE DONOT FORCE A CHANGE?

AMIL PARIKH-80