82 per cent of corporate political donations in 7 years directly went to BJP

News Network
October 16, 2020

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The Bharatiya Janata Party has become the party of corporate companies, with 82.3% or Rs 2,319.48 crore of the Rs 2,818.05 crore corporate donations given to national parties in seven years between 2012-13 and 2018-19 reaching the BJP.

Despite being India’s oldest political party, Congress received only Rs 376.02 crore during these seven years while other national parties -- NCP (Rs 69.81 crore), Trinamool Congress (Rs 45.01 crore), CPI-M (Rs 7.5 crore) and CPI (Rs 22 lakh) -- got much lesser.

Another national party, BSP has declared that it has not received any donation above Rs 20,000, which needs to be reported, while Trinamool Congress was accorded national party status only on 2 September, 2016.

The analysis by private election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) showed that BJP had pipped the Congress in attracting corporate donations even when it was not in power at the Centre.

When the Congress-led UPA was in power, the BJP got Rs 72.99 crore in 2012-13, which rose to Rs 156.98 crore the next fiscal. In comparison, Congress got just Rs 7.54 crore, one-tenth of what the BJP received in 2012-13 and Rs 53.51 crore, around one-third the saffron party received in 2013-14.

 For the year 2018-19, Rs 876.10 crore, which was 92% of the total donations received, was donated by all the corporate and business houses to BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress, NCP and CPI(M), the ADR report said.

While CPI reported that it did not receive any corporate donations, BSP said it did not receive any donation above Rs 20,000, which needs to be reported. Donations from corporates to National parties increased by 131% from the period between 2004-12 to 2018-19.

In the last fiscal, BJP received Rs 698.08 crore from 1,573 corporates, which was 94% of the Rs 742.15 crore it received as donations. Congress was a distant second with Rs 122.5 crore (82% of Rs 148.58 crore) from 122 such donors.

Trinamool Congress got Rs 42.98 crore from one donor while NCP got 11.34 crore from 17 donors and CPI(M) 1.18 crore from 62 corporate or business houses. CPI received Rs 1.59 crore as donations but none from corporates.

Progressive Electoral Trust was the top donor to BJP, Congress and Trinamool Congress in 2018-19. The Trust donated three times in a single year to the three parties each, amounting to a total of Rs 455.15 crore.

Of the Rs 876.10 crore donated by the corporates to five national parties, Rs 20.54 crore was received from the unsegregated category, which includes companies with no details available online or whose nature of work was unclear.

"A total of 319 donations through which National parties received Rs 31.42 crore do not have address details in the contribution form. National parties have received Rs 13.57 crore from 34 donations which do not have PAN details in the contribution form. Rs 13.33 crore or 99.75% of such donations without PAN as well as address details worth Rs 13.36 crore belong to the BJP," the report said.

Also, it added. 341 donations amounting to Rs 20.54 crore were corporate entities which have zero internet presence or if they do there is ambiguity about the nature of their work. "Contact and address details of most of these companies were unavailable in cases where they were visible online," it added.

In its recommendations, the ADR said all donors who have donated a minimum of Rs 20,000 as a single or multiple donations should provide their PAN details. Such incomplete contributions reports must be returned to the parties by the Election Commission, to deter them from providing incomplete information.

Corporates should make details of their political contributions available in the public domain through their websites (in annual reports or in a dedicated page) for increasing transparency in political financing.

"Annual scrutiny of donations reports of National, Regional and unrecognised parties should be initiated by a dedicated department of the CBDT, to discourage donations from shell companies or illegal entities," it added.

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has killed or captured 69 terrorists linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad during a major counterterrorism drill in the country's southeast, its spokesman says.  

General Ahmad Shafaei, the spokesman for the “Martyrs of Security” drill, said Friday that a total of 23 terrorists have been killed and another 46 arrested in various clean-up operations ever since the IRGC Ground Force launched it in the Sistan and Baluchestan province on November 1.

Seven terrorists have also turned themselves in during the period.

“The undeniable fact about terrorists is that they rely on arrogant powers, particularly the intelligence service of the wicked and vicious Zionist regime," Shafaei said.

“Unfortunately, weapons and munitions at terrorists’ disposal are among the most sophisticated ones in the world. This accounts for their heavy dependence.” 

The official stated that several members of the disbanded terror teams were non-Iranian nationals, who had been hired by foreign intelligence agencies to carry out acts of sabotage and terror inside Iran.

In a most recent operation, six terrorists were arrested and four others were eliminated, three of whom were non-Iranians, he added. 

On October 26, ten members of Iran's law enforcement forces were killed in a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.

The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan.

Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.

In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.

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News Network
November 27,2024

Mangaluru: A five-year-long pursuit of justice continues for several youths from Dakshina Kannada who fell victim to a fraudulent food delivery job scam in Kuwait. The victims, lured by promises of lucrative overseas employment, now find themselves entangled in legal battles and financial ruin.

In a recent development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned the victims to its Mangaluru office as part of the ongoing investigation. The case, which dates back to May 28, 2019, was initially registered at the Mangaluru North police station based on a complaint filed by Usman, a resident of Jalligudde. His brother, Aboobakkar Siddique, was among the 34 victims duped by Manikya Associates, a recruitment agency operated by Prasad Shetty.

According to the complaint, the victims were promised jobs as food delivery executives in Kuwait with a salary of ₹40,000 per month. “I paid ₹80,000 to the agent and ended up spending seven harrowing months in Kuwait without any salary,” shared a victim who now works in construction. Another victim, now employed as a driver, said, “I dreamt of working abroad to support my family. I even pledged jewelry to pay the fees, but it took me years to recover financially.”

The victims allege that they were left stranded in Kuwait in January 2019 after completing all formalities. With no jobs and mounting expenses, their ordeal lasted seven months. They were eventually repatriated with the help of Indian expats and the Embassy of India in Kuwait, just two months after the complaint was filed.

The ED investigation is reportedly progressing, and victims said they were assured that their payments to the agent would be refunded soon. An ED official confirmed that efforts to ensure justice are ongoing.

For these youths, the pain of shattered dreams and financial losses has lingered for years, with many still struggling to rebuild their lives. As they await justice, their plight serves as a cautionary tale about the perils of fraudulent recruitment schemes.

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News Network
November 21,2024

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Hamas says the Israeli regime’s sole objective lies in “erasing” the entirety of the Palestinian population from across the Palestinian territories.

Khalil al-Hayya, a ranking official with the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian resistance movement, made the remarks to the Palestinian al-Aqsa TV on Wednesday.

“The occupation targets everyone—it strikes hospitals, civil defense, women, children, and the elderly,” he said, adding that the regime sought to “empty Gaza of its residents, and displace the Palestinian people to fulfill its dreams of building a Zionist Jewish state across all of Palestine.”

The remarks came amid the regime’s October 2023-present war of genocide on the coastal sliver that has so far claimed the lives of nearly 44,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

“This unprecedented aggression in modern times evokes scenes from the dark ages of human history, having crossed all red lines and exceeded every expectation of brutality in the modern era,” the Palestinian official lamented.

He also regretted that the regime had added “systematic and dangerous starvation to its aggression, falsely claiming before the world that it allows 250 [aid] trucks into Gaza daily. In reality, the number of trucks is far fewer.”

Hayya, meanwhile, regretted that “scenes of children torn apart, women screaming over their children, and heart-wrenching destruction have failed to stir enough humanity to stop these crimes.”

He decried the United States for vetoing the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions that are aimed at bringing about a potential ceasefire in the war, saying this indicated Washington’s “partnership in the aggression” and a simultaneous siege that the Israeli regime has been enforcing on Gaza.

Addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official asserted that, despite what the Israeli official is after, Hamas would not hand over the regime’s captives “without [the regime’s] stopping the war.”

He called Netanyahu “the main obstacle” in the way of cessation of the aggression, saying the Israeli premier “blocks any progress for political reasons,” and citing his preventing conclusion of a ceasefire agreement in July.

Hayya also warned that the regime sought to expand the war beyond Gaza, but asserted that its goals are “impossible and will never happen.”

“Today, the enemy exposes its true intentions of extermination and displacement, but it will fail,” he stressed.

“The Palestinian people are resilient and will not surrender, as they believe in their humanitarian and political cause. The enemy and its allies will not succeed in achieving their goals. This steadfast people will endure, and the occupation will not prevail against them.”

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