*Alleges 30 companies forced to donate Rs 350 crore to BJP in 4 years
New Delhi : The Congress party accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the centre of intimidating and arm twisting the private companies to force them to donate funds to the party, while referring to a massive donation by 30 companies to the tune of Rs 335 crore to the party (the BJP) after these were subjected to investigations by the ED, the CBI and the IT.
“It is a clear case of ‘hafta wasooli’ (extortion)”, party general secretary in charge communications Jairam Ramesh told a press conference here today, while remarking, “these are the ED and CBI bonds, not electoral bonds which also have been held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court”.
Party general secretary in charge organization KC Venugopal has written a letter to the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking a probe into “the allegations of quid-pro-quo between BJP and donors of the BJP which have been raided by various investigative agencies”.
Giving details, Ramesh disclosed that between 2018 to 2022, thirty private companies were subjected to investigations by the Enforcement Directorate, the Income Tax department and the Central Bureau of Investigation. He said, during this period the same companies paid Rs 335 crore to the BJP as donation. He revealed, of these 22 companies had never ever paid any donation to the BJP prior to 2018.
Ramesh questioned the government whether it would come up with a “White Paper” on BJP’s finances, not just the sources, but how it coerced corporate firms to donate, by misusing investigative agencies against them?
“If you have nothing to hide, then are you willing to present a point-by-point rebuttal on the ‘Chronology’ of events which led to the filling of BJP’s treasury?”, he asked, adding, “if you are unwilling to come up with a factual explanation, then are you willing to present yourself for a Supreme Court monitored investigation in these dubious deals to loot donation for the BJP?”
Ramesh said, these were all the symptoms of frustration and desperation as the BJP has realized that it was losing the ground and government and was nowhere near the majority mark, notwithstanding its claims of winning 370 seats of its own.
In the letter to the FM, Venugopal referred to a news portal’s report that has “exposed the alleged quid-pro-quo between BJP and several firms, who in a strange coincidence donated to it, after the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax Department (IT) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and others, raided/searched those enterprises”.
Venugopal said the news report was authenticated by several Election Commission documents regarding donation and other robust evidence.
Quoting the news report, Venugopal said in the letter, at least 30 companies, which donated a total of nearly Rs 335 crore to the BJP between financial years 2018-19 and 2022-23, also faced action by central agencies during that period.
Of these firms, 23 companies, which gave a total of Rs 187.58 crore to the party during this period, had never donated any amount to the BJP between 2014 and the year of the raid, Venugopal said, while adding, at least four of these companies donated a total of Rs 9.05 crore within four months of the central agency visit.
Venugopal wrote in the letter, “the nation is witnessing how you are destroying Democracy by giving Income Tax notices to the Indian National Congress on frivolous charges and coercing nationalised banks under the Finance Ministry, to extort money from us. All this money has come through small donations by the people of India. This is nothing but a conspiracy to destroy a level playing field in a Democracy, just on the eve of elections”.
