All hush hush about slush

Phew! Finally, D-Day dawns as Delhi results are declared, ringing the curtain down on a ubiquitous Kafkaesque campaign characterized by surreal distortions on caste, gotra, creed, funding accusations, financial skullduggery even below-the-belt personal attacks on anything and everything et al with the devil taking the hindmost!

All hell broke lose when a break-away offshoot of the Aam Aadmi Party, AAP Volunteer Action Manch (AVAM) accused AAP of money laundering and receiving Rs 50 lakh each from four “bogus” companies. Predictably, the Saffron Sangh and Congress pounced on this calling it “hawala at midnight.” No matter, the AAP website showed these transactions.

Underscoring once again, money makes the clogged, polluted and corrupt electoral mare go around, and how! Notably, even as the BJP and Congress cry foul about AAP, both are mum on their party’s funding. Given that 75 per cent of Saffron Sangh funds come from unknown sources. Between 2004-5 and 2011, the BJP received Rs 952.5 crore from unknown sources and the then ruling party Sonia’s Grand Dame garnered Rs 1,951 crore in its electoral war chest.

The real question is not about a couple of crore rupees that AAP has received, but the hundreds of crores that the BJP and the Congress receive from unknown sources. Will the BJP and the Congress have the moral courage to at least copy the AAP template on donations? Till then, there is no point speaking down from the pulpit.

Most scandalously, presently parties only report contributions above Rs 20,000 to the EC under law. No one knows where almost Rs 3,675 crore came from. Think, between 2004-05 and 2011-12 a whopping total of Rs 4,899 crore was the income of six national parties. But less than a quarter of this money is accounted for.

Believe it or not, only 11.89 per cent of Congress’ total funding of Rs 774 crore and 22.76 per cent of BJP income in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 of Rs 426 crore came from donations above Rs 20,000, according to reports submitted to the EC. The BSP which got donations of Rs 99 crore between 2009- 2011, stated that it received zero donations over Rs 20,000. Even the CPI (M) which claims to be morally on a higher plank than these Parties claimed that just 1.29 per cent of the money it made in donations in 2009-10 was in excess of Rs 20,000 each.

Moreover, following the Supreme Court's 1996 order that parties identify and acknowledge corporate donations in their accounts book, both Congress and BJP averred that they would prefer contributions from companies by cheques. However, the obverse holds true. Arguably why should anyone put his money on a politician or Party? Are the donations altruistic? Are they according to a preference for parties and their ideologies? Certainly not, but purely a business proposition, a simple quid pro quo.

A metal and mineral baron who funded the BJP in 2,000 became the proud owner of 51% of PSU Balco. Another industrialist paid Rs 50 lakh to the Congress in 2003 and within months was inducted into the party. However, in the 2004 Lok Sabha poll he was one of the highest donors to the BJP even though he contested on Congress ticket and won.

The way out? Donations must be made public as the aam aadmi has the right to know whether a party’s stand on a policy is influenced by the source of its funding. Towards that end, there must be compulsory social audit of political funding by the EC or auditors shortlisted by the CAG.

By:Poonam I Kaushish