Congress treasurer Ajay Maken alleged that many businessmen and industrialists had told him in private that they were threatened with action by the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department to prevent them from donating funds to the Congress. He made the remarks while participating in the discussion on election reforms in the Rajya Sabha.

“I am treasurer of the Congress. After every election, we announce our poll expenses and our bank balance. After 2004, the BJP had Rs 88 crore as its bank balance and the Congress had Rs 38 crore, around two times more. In 2009, our government came to power and we raised more money based on our increased strength. The BJP’s bank balance after 2009 was Rs 150 crore and the Congress’s was Rs 221 crore, 1.47 times more at a ratio of 60:40,” Maken said.

The disparity in political donations going to the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress has been a matter of intense scrutiny in recent years. Earlier this month, a review of contributions by various electoral trusts on the ECI’s website showed that nearly 83 per cent of the Rs 915 crore of donations made through the Progressive Electoral Trust—one of the many electoral trusts through which funds are routed to parties—in 2024-25 went to the BJP, while the Congress’s share stood at 8.4 per cent.

Read the full report by Sourav Roy Barman: https://tinyurl.com/yzp82ppn

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