JOIN USThe revelations made by two non-government organisations about the donations received by political parties in the last few years are new only in the figures that have been made known.
The figures show that 23 political parties received Rs 4,662 crore in donations between 2004 and 2011. While the Congress, understandably, had the lion’s share of Rs 2,008 crore, the BJP received Rs 994 crore. Hundreds of crores were received by other parties. The data, collected through the RTI from the Election Commission and the Income-Tax authorities, confirms what is well-known - that political parties receive hefty donations from corporate houses. They may represent just the tip of the financial iceberg in the murky political waters, but even that tip reveals the gap between the precept and practice of political parties.
Major business houses have made hefty contributions and it is logical to assume that there would quid pro quo. This should be clear from the fact that many of the donor groups figure in the list of those who benefited from the coal block allocations brought to light by the CAG. Another give-away is that regional parties in mineral-rich States are also major recipients of donations. More important is the fact that most of the donations have come from unknown sources.
According to the law the names of only those who make contributions above Rs 20,000 need to be revealed. The Congress has only about 12 per cent of its income coming from known donors and the BJP about 22 per cent. The BSP’s total income of Rs 484 crore was entirely made up of donations below Rs 20,000. The obvious inference is that it is black money that went into the coffers of all parties and there was a conspiracy of silence and false accounting among the donors and the recipients.
Political funding is the major source of institutional corruption in the country. The money raised for and deployed in elections is crucial in this, and the accounting is farcical. The Election Commission’s efforts to regulate and control the spending of candidates, though welcome, have been largely unsuccessful. The proposal for state funding of elections has never taken off and will remain only an idea. The least that is required is to have a system where the names of all donors are made known to the public.