There is nothing unusual in the ruling party collecting more funds from the industry and the traders during its tenure as against the main opposition party but in the present political environment of the country, the BJP is making use of every possible sources to boost its funding so that the party cam make full use of that in mobilising for elections. The process which started in 2014 Lok Sabha elections got a big boost during 2019 Lok Sabha elections and it is continuing in full swing making the other opposition parties starved of funds for meeting the electoral challenge of the BJP.

Since the Congress is the main opposition party in most of the states, the BJP’s strategy has been to ensure that the Congress gets minimum funds from the industrial houses which were the main donors of the GoP when it was in power. Since 2014 under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stewardship, the BJP has systematically tried to disconnect the Congress Party from its traditional sources in industry. This has been done through a carrot and stick policy. Signals have gone from the highest level to the industrial houses that the Government agencies have been monitoring the operations and any special favours to the Congress Party will be taken note of and appropriate actions taken through the investigative agencies.

The industrial houses in the country, in general, have a feeling now that since the Modi government is staying and is in comfortable position in Parliament, it is best in the company interests to support the ruling party fully. They are apprehensive that any dithering will invite raids by investigating agencies. The fact is that most of these companies have skeletons in their cupboards and they can be caught if the government wants. This fear of raids has compelled a large section of the corporates which used to take a middle path before 2014, opt for saffrons and increase substantially the donations to BJP.

Since the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, there has been a sea change in the manner of conducting elections. The political parties are spending heavily on the campaigning and social media has been playing a major role in influencing the opinion of the electorate. The expenditure limit of the candidates set by the election commission has become meaningless as the political parties are free to spend huge amounts for campaigning. The BJP is taking maximum advantage of the present opportunity by spending huge funds for campaigning destroying any level playing field in the election campaigning. Both in respect of mobilization of fund from corporates and through electoral bonds, the BJP is much ahead against the Congress which is the main national opposition party.

The Congress was in such a precarious position that a meeting was urgently held by the high command to assess the financial position before the recent elections and it was found that the lack of resources had hit the party most in meeting the challenge of BJP in the recent period. With its huge money power, the BJP was able earlier to organise defections from the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Puducherry leading to the fall of the Congress led state governments. The factional fights in the Congress had role but the money power of the BJP acted as the potent weapon. Similar was the situation in West Bengal where defections were organised by the BJP with money power taking advantage of the dissatisfaction and greed of the dissenting Trinamool Congress legislators. However, in Bengal, BJP faced disastrous defeat at the hands of Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee and still the Party is licking that wounds.

All talk of transparency in funding by the corporates is of no value now as the NDA government has amended a number of acts to facilitate donations by the industrial houses to the political parties and this has helped BJP because BJP is firmly in power and its government at the centre is in a position to help the big houses.

The government amended the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), by making it legal for foreign companies to donate to political parties through their subsidiaries in India.

Further, amendment was brought about in the Companies Act, wherein the cap of 7.5% of annual profits (in last three years) which could be made by companies as donation to political parties, was removed.

By doing away with transparency, an amendment was made to the Income Tax Act by way of which the requirement of donor companies to disclose details about the political parties to which such a donation is made, was removed.

However, the most damaging amendment was brought about in the RBI Act that introduced a non-transparent way of donating unlimited amounts to political parties even through banking channels by purchasing electoral bonds. Electoral bonds or EBs are like bearer bonds which could be given to political parties. The identity of the person who purchases these bonds is not known to the public or even to the Election Commission, but is known to the State Bank of India and through them, the government.

All these amendments together have disproportionately diverted political funding to the party in power BJP and vastly improved their striking power as against the Congress and the regional parties in the elections. The BJP took full advantage of these government decisions in 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the state assembly polls early this year. They will get this more in the coming assembly elections, in 2022, especially in Uttar Pradesh.

More than 95 per cent of the initial tranche of electoral bonds went to the BJP, and even thereafter, the vast bulk of it has gone to the BJP. That these donations are being made largely by corporates is clear from the fact that more than 99 per cent of the bonds have been purchased in denominations of 1 crore and 10 lakh. The Congress during its rule used to get favours from the industrial houses through large donations but that has come to a trickle now as the GOP has no power after 2014 to offer quid pro quo to the corporates. The BJP with its aggressive pro big houses policy is taking almost the entire kitty leaving only miniscule to the Congress and others.

But the most reliable source of funding of BJP for elections is the amount organised from the overseas through Overseas Friends of BJP and the religious bodies including temples managed by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). These temples abroad, especially in USA and UK have the funds and the BJP supporters find a way to remit funds which are used for elections. According to one expert estimate, the BJP spent more than Rs. 25,000 crore in 2019 Lok Sabha elections and this consisted of a substantial portion remitted by BJP supporters from abroad.

Thus for the Congress, it is a Herculean task to meet BJP challenge organisationally and electorally. The Congress can get back its funding source back only when it emerges as a viable alternative to the BJP in association with the other opposition parties. The GoP has to reinvent itself as a dynamic party to challenge a powerful Prime Minister like Narendra Modi. If the Congress is able to do that and make substantial gains in the assembly elections in 2022, the funding scenario will drastically change. More and more industrial houses will increase their share of donations to the Congress. Congress can also appeal to the lakhs of MSMEs which are struggling under Modi rule. Therefore, if the Congress wants to get back its resources mojo, it has to work selflessly for the building of a programme based unity of the opposition parties. This is the only way. (IPA Service)