TEAM?HERALD?
NEW DELHI: In a bout of political hypocrisy, while the Congress and BJP are bringing the house down over Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) getting foreign funds, they themselves accepted Rs 29.2 crore from foreign companies since 2004. The Congress got Rs 9.83 crore while the BJP accounted for a whopping Rs 19.4 crore.
From among Goan companies V M Salgaocar and Brothers Private Limited tops giving political donations to the national political parties between 2004-05 and 2011-12 donating a total of Rs 4.22 crore to them, with the highest Rs 2.25 crore being given to the Congress. It donated Rs 1.82 crore to the BJP and Rs 15 lakh to the NCP, according to data released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
V S Dempo Holdings came second with the funding of Rs 25 lakh each to Congress and BJP, followed by Chowgule & Co giving Rs 22.5 lakh to BJP. Dempo Group of Companies gave Rs 1 lakh to the BJP.
The ADR has culled out data from the submissions received by the ECI.
While AAP is facing a Home Ministry’s probe, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has moved Delhi High Court against Congress and BJP for violating the law that bans political parties from receiving contributions from foreign firms based in India but controlled from abroad.The Congress and the BJP are accused of receiving funds from the Indian companies run by the foreign groups which ADR says is as bad as receiving any funds directly from a foreign company.
Vedanta group of the London-based NRI Anil Agarwal is the single largest donor to both Congress and BJP. Its Sterlite Industries India Limited donated Rs 6 crore to the Congress while its Sesa Goa Limited contributed another Rs 2.785 crore.
Vedanta’s the Madras Aluminium Company donated Rs 3.50 crore to the BJP in two installments, while Sesa Goa Ltd contributed Rs 1.415 crore through ten cheques.
Two other such donors in case of the Congress are Solaris Holdings Ltd giving Rs 1 crore and Hyaat Regency Rs 5 lakh, while the BJP’s other foreign contributors are Rs 14.50 crore from the Public and Political Awareness Trust, based in Silvasa and Dow Chemicals International Private Limited which donated Rs one lakh.
In case of the Congress, the donations were also received from 44 domestic companies while the BJP had 43 such donors, the NCP 23 donors, CPM 96 donors and CPI 12 donors. The Congress altogether got Rs 172.25 crore, the BJP Rs 192.47 crore in donations.
The political parties are required to submit details of the donors who have donations of Rs 20,000 or more in a financial year to the national parties to the Election Commission of India every year. The ADR has culled
