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3mo ago

Maken Tells Rajya Sabha BJP War Chest Dwarfs Congress, Citing Election Commission Data

He highlights skewed flows through electoral trusts following the Supreme Court’s scrapping of electoral bonds.

Congress MP Ajay Maken during his speech in Rajya Sabha flagged what he called a “blatantly unequal” electoral field, citing a massive expansion in the BJP’s bank balance over the last 20 years.
Representational images of BJP and Congress workers waving their respective party flags | ANI

Overview

  • He told the Upper House during a debate on election reforms that BJP’s declared bank balance rose from Rs 88 crore in 2004 to Rs 10,107 crore in 2024, while Congress moved from Rs 38 crore to Rs 133 crore, based on ECI-linked disclosures.
  • He said the funding ratio that he described as roughly 60:40 before 2014 shifted to 92:8 in 2019 and about 99:1 by 2024.
  • He cited an ECI-listed review showing the Progressive Electoral Trust routed about 83% of its Rs 915 crore donations in 2024–25 to the BJP and around 8.4% to Congress.
  • He alleged business donors reported ED and Income Tax pressure to deter contributions to Congress, and said the I-T department issued a Rs 210 crore notice and debited Rs 135 crore before account access was restored on 23 March 2024.
  • He noted the electoral bonds scheme was struck down in February 2024, while BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi rejected the accusations and urged Congress to pursue institutional remedies.