Cpm Wants Ban On Corporate Funding, But Others Disagree
Major political parties do not agree with the demand of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) that donations to political parties by business houses be banned.
They are unanimous in their view that until state funding of elections was introduced, transparent corporate funding is necessary.
The CPM yesterday demanded that as part of electoral reforms, corporation donations to parties should be banned. It claimed that it had already refused to accept Rs 19 lakhs as donation from the electoral trust set up by the Tata group. Public limited companies set up for the purpose of business have no reason to fund political parties, the party said in a statement.
The Tata groups trust was set up abut a year ago for transparent political funding. It distributes 50 per cent of the fund on the basis of the strength of political parties in the Lok Sabha, provided the strength is more than five per cent of the house stregth. The other 50 per cent is distributed after the elections.
Thus, the BJPs share came to about Rs 1 crore, the Congress got about Rs 90 lakh. The CPI-M was given Rs 19 lakh. The Shiv Sena applied for donation from the trust, but was refused as its strength was less than five per cent.
The BJP, the Congress and the Samata Party yesterday distanced themselves from the CPMs stand, and welcomed such corporate donations. While the BJP described it as the CPMs political gimmick, the Samata Party described it as theLefts doublespeak.
BJP treasurer Ved Prakash Goyal said there was nothing wrong with such donations and stressed that it was an attempt to cleanse the system of political funding. The CPMs stand reflected its anti-capitalist attitude, he alleged. Describing this as the partys political gimmick, he asked if West Bengal chief Minister Jyoti Basu did not accept any money from industrialists.
Samata Party general secretary Jaya Jaitley also questioned the CPMs right to demand a ban on such donation . She said the Left should explain why Basu has been welcoming capitalists to invest in West Bengal. Charging the Left with doublespeak, she alleged that the CPM was just trying to show that it was against capitalists. They had no reason to refuse the donations, she added.
Jaitley welcomed corporate donations through cheques as a means to check the role of black money but held that even such donations should be more tansparent. She said her party did not know the criteria by which the Aditya Birla group gave it Rs 1 lakh as donation.
As a political party, we have asked for donations through cheque, Congress spokesperson Ambika Soni said. State funding of elections was the most desirable, but modalities would have to be worked out on how to do this, she held. However, till such a time, the Congress welcomes transparent corporate donations, she said.
In absence of such donations, it would be difficult for political parties to fund elections, she said and added that donations through cheques would make the party more accountable, she added.