Nov 28, 2022: Elections funds by parties: Obtained in WHITE or in BLACK?
November 28, 2022: Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Congress to give up its “divide and Rule” strategy and to work for winning the trust of the entire society. He said that before the formation of Gujarat State in 1960, the Congress made Gujaratis and Marathas fight each other. After formation of Gujarat, Congress incited different castes and communities to fight against one another. He said the people of Gujarat were not ready to vote for parties, which helped elements that supported breaking India.
Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur told reporters at ‘Kamlam’, the office of BJP Gujarat in Gandinagar, that Gujarat will be able to hold the Olympics. The host country for the next Olympics will be decided by 2025.
To counter BJP allegations that Congress did not give Sardar Patel his due, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in his election meetings said that Nehru and Patel were inseparable. He said that Sardar Patel had banned RSS. He forgot to say that after proper investigations, the same Sardar Patel had removed the ban on RSS. He again repeated, what he had said at Dediawada that it was Congress and its leaders – Nehru and Dr Ambedkar- who had established democracy in India.
Congress COURTING MUSLIM VOTES: A Congress candidate Indranil Rajguru, to get 30,000 Muslim votes in his constituency in Rajkot (East), has started using the slogan “Allahu Akbar” in his meetings. He has said that Allah resides in the Somnath Temple and Mahadev resides in Ajmer Sharif.
Similarly Chandan Thakor, the Congress candidate from Sidhpur, has started saying that only the Muslims can save Congress. Former BJP leader Jaynarayan Vyas has come out in support of Chandanji Thakor, who is the sitting MLA from the constituency. Vyas had got elected in 2007 on BJP ticket and he was a cabinet minister in the cabinet from 2007-12. He lost the elections in 2012 and was working as the BJP Spokesman. He did not contest the 2017 elections. Now he is supporting Chandanji Thakor and he is working against the BJP candidate in the constituency.
ANALYSIS: The Association for Democratic Reforms reports that over the last 5 years, BJP got 94% of poll funds through SBI Bonds, which help parties receive donations in ‘white’. From March 2018 to October 2022, all political parties in total received Rs 174 crore in donations through Bonds, said the report. Out of the total, the saffron party’s share was Rs 163 crore. In all, of 1,571 donations, the ruling party got 1,519. It added that Rs 74.3 crore came from an entity called Prudent Electoral Trust. Six Gujarat-based companies made donations through this trust.
Since all parties spend a good amount of money in each constituency, did the other parties obtain money in black?
— By Sachin Ashal