Page 11 - Political Parties

I-T dept conducts pan-India raids against unrecognised political parties

The income tax department on Wednesday launched raids in multiple states as part of a tax evasion probe against registered unrecognised political parties (RUPP) and their alleged dubious funding, official sources said. The searches are being conducted in Gujarat, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and some other states, they said. A coordinated action has been launched by the tax department against the RUPPs, their linked entities, operators and others, the sources said. The surprise action is understood to have been taken by the department on the recommendation of the Election Commission (EC) which recently struck off 87 entities from its list of RUPP after they were found non-existent during physical verification. The poll panel had announced that it was taking action against more than 2,100 registered unrecognised political parties for flouting rules and election laws, including those related to filing of monetary contributions, failing to update their address and names

Consensus on public welfare issues among parties in India: Om Birla

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday said there is consensus on issues of public welfare among political parties in India notwithstanding differences of opinion. Birla is leading an Indian Parliamentary Delegation to Mexico. He unveiled a bust of freedom fighter Pandurang Khankhoje at Chapingo University in Mexico on Friday. Recalling Khankhoje's contribution, Birla said he was an outstanding Indian revolutionary, scholar, agricultural scientist and statesman. Talking about successful governance in India through democratic means, he said Indian Parliament is the epitome of the will and aspirations of the people of the country. "Matters of public importance are raised in Parliament by members of both ruling and opposition parties. Notwithstanding differences of opinion, there is consensus on issues of public welfare," Birla said. He said parliamentary committees are functioning as effective mechanisms to ensure accountability of the executive. Birla also called on President of the

No contribution received, no donations made: Two electoral trusts tell EC

Delhi-based Swadeshi Electoral Trust and Jaybharath Electoral Trust registered in Coimbatore have told the Election Commission that they neither received any contribution nor made any donation to a political party in financial year 2021-22. In their annual reports for FY 2021-22 submitted to the poll panel, the two trusts said they received "nil" contributions from all sources permissible under the income tax law. Hence they made "nil" donations to any political party in the fiscal. Electoral trusts have to submit their contribution reports to the EC containing details of contributions received and disbursed by them to political parties in the interest of transparency.

Don't burden utilities, pay for freebies from budget: Sitharaman to parties

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said political parties that come to power on pre-poll promises of freebies should pay for those through budgetary provisions. Citing the example of free electricity being promised in many states, the finance minister said the burden for the freebies should not be thrust upon the power discoms or gencos. "If a promise has been made to the people at the time of the election, you are looking at a quid pro quo. You should be, as a responsible party, assume after you come to power, make a provision in the budget for it," Sitharaman said, speaking at the FE Best Bank Awards event here. She said in the case of the power sector, there have been cases where states have paid the utilities in parts or not paid at all. "You end up shifting the burden to the discom which has not gone to the election. The discom has not asked for votes. Why should they be burdened? Do they have the power to stop continuing the supply? And similarly the gencos,"

'Why not call an all-party meeting to hear freebies' issue,' SC asks Centre

Things like freebies, which can destroy the economy, have to be looked into, says court

All political parties, including BJP, are in favour of freebies, says SC

All political parties including BJP are in favour of freebies and due to this a judicial attempt has been made to deal with it, said the Supreme Court on Tuesday while deliberating with a PIL opposing promises of such handouts by the parties during polls. The top court also rapped Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and some of its leaders for making statements on the issue of freebies and the judicial intervention on the ground that welfare measures are for uplifting marginalised people and cannot be held as freebies. On this issue, I can say all political parties are on one side including BJP. Everybody wants freebies. That is the reason we made an attempt, a bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Hima Kohli and C T Ravikumar observed during the hearing. The intention was to initiate a wider public debate on the issue and for this purpose, the setting up of the committee was mooted, the bench said, adding We have to see what is a freebie and what is welfare." The ben

Didn't let China infiltrate into India's territory: Rajnath Singh

"Many incidents happened in this matter, which only we two-three people know. I cannot divulge those details but we did not let them infiltrate into our territory," he said.

Bihar: JDU, RJD to hold parallel meetings amid soaring political temp

Members of both houses of Parliament and state legislature, belonging to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), converged to attend a meeting at his official residence

SC dismisses plea seeking contempt proceedings against heads of parties

Supreme Court dismissed plea seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against heads of political parties for not following its directions to prevent criminalisation of politics in UP Assembly polls

SC wants political parties to suggest how to regulate 'freebie culture'

Govt says freebies inevitably lead to economic disaster

No reasons cited for fielding 212 with criminal cases in polls: ADR report

Here's a look at how the major parties did regarding the C7 mandates, across state elections

Monsoon session: Venkaiah Naidu calls for floor leaders' meeting on Sunday

Sources said the meeting has been convened by Naidu on July 17 at 6 PM and will seek the support of various parties for a smooth session

Parties should rise above politics on tackling population growth: BJP

The BJP said on Monday that political parties should rise above partisan politics to take the right steps on the issue of population growth as everyone's future is linked to it. After a United Nations report projected that India will surpass China to become the world's most populous country next year, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said this issue is not merely his party's but that of every aware citizen of India. "Definitely, from the common man to political parties, which should rise above partisan politics, everyone should move in the right direction on the issue," he said at a press conference. While Trivedi did not refer to the demands by some groups for a law to curb population growth, senior party leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh, who has been a vocal supporter of such legislative measures, favoured a stringent law. The "demon" of rising population is preventing the country from becoming "vishwa guru" (world leader), he said in a tweet, suggesting that China has l

Election Commission to delete 111 'non-existent' parties from register

The Election Commission decided on Monday to delete from its register 111 political parties that were found to be "non-existent" during a verification exercise aimed at cleaning the system.

Several parties extend support for Bihar Bandh call amid protests

Various parties, like the RJD, the HAM, and the VIP on Friday extended their support to the Bihar Bandh called by different youth organisations of the state on Saturday

Pakistan's political parties blame each other for economic crisis

Pakistan's political parties, the incumbent PML-N government and the ousted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government led by Imran Khan on Sunday blamed each other for the economic mess in the country

Congress to discuss polarization, farmer issues at Chintan Shivir

During the program, the Congress leaders will discuss the Centre-State relationship, the situation of the northeastern states, the Jammu and Kashmir issue, and communal polarization

Some people, not any political party are disturbing peace: NCM chief

Speaking on the violent clashes between two groups in Patiala district of Punjab recently, the NCM chairperson said the state government could have prevented it

Story in numbers: BJP gets highest corporate donation in 2019-20

National parties received the maximum corporate donations of Rs 921.95 cr in the FY 2019-20 (during which the 17th Lok Sabha elections were held), followed by Rs 881.26 cr in the FY 2018-19

Govt notifies FY22 income tax returns form for trusts, political parties

Further, in ITR-7 political parties will have to give details of voluntary contributions under different categories received by them during the fiscal