The Congress party has demanded a probe into allegations of quid pro quo between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its donors that have been raided by investigative agencies. The party also plans to move the court to investigate based on the news reports jointly published by NewsMinute and Newslaundry.
“You may be aware that a scathing investigative report in online publications Newslaundry and The News Minute has exposed the alleged quid pro quo between the BJP and several companies, which in a strange coincidence donated to it, after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) The Income Tax (IT) Department and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and others have raided/searched these companies,” Congress MP and party General Secretary (Organization) KC Venugopal said in a letter to Nirmala in February Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister. 23.
The news report, the letter said, is authenticated by various Election Commission documents relating to donations and other robust evidence and therefore raises serious questions about the institutional independence and autonomy of the central agencies – IT, ED, CBI. Two of the three agencies fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance.
“The entire country knows how investigative agencies are remotely controlled by your government. This is evident from the fourfold increase in the number of ED cases against politicians since 2014, and 95% of the cases are against opposition leaders.” said Venugopal.
The letter cites examples that it says appear to be a clear case of legal extortion in the form of donations to the ruling party by putting pressure on investigative bodies. These are certainly not the only cases in which such a modus operandi of alleged extortion has occurred. This seems to be the tip of the iceberg, it says.
In one case, the letter cites, there were at least 30 companies that donated almost in total ₹335 crore to the BJP between 2018-19 and 2022-23, and also faced action from central agencies during that period. There were 23 of these companies, making a total of ₹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 and at least four of these companies donated a total of ₹9.05 crore within four months of the central agency's visit as stated in the letter.
“We are not claiming that the cases filed, or the action taken by the investigating agencies, are illegal, but it does warrant an inquiry into why these 'dubious' companies that have ED cases against them are donating to the ruling party -BJP . despite ED investigation against them. Is it purely a coincidence that they are donating to the BJP after an ED drive?” it reads.
“If you are not willing to come up with a statement of fact, are you willing to submit yourself to a Supreme Court-monitored probe into these dubious deals to loot donations for the BJP?” it reads.
The letter asked the FM whether it would come out with a “White Paper” on the BJP's finances, not just on its sources, but “how you forced companies to donate, by misusing investigative agencies against them?”
“We are going to court and to the people's court. We will defeat you on both sides,” the letter said.
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Published: Feb 23, 2024 2:07 PM IST