Congress argues that the government is extorting hafta via central institutions

NEW DELHI: The Congress accused the BJP of “hafta vasooli” on Friday, claiming that the Modi government was pursuing private corporations using the ED, I-T department, and CBI and then “extorting” money from them for party coffers. The Congress further claimed that 30 corporates that were within the agency’s purview had given the BJP Rs 335 crore during the previous four years.

The Congress said that the BJP had given the EC a list of the corporations that had contributed, citing charges made by two news sites, which “exposed a quid pro quo”.

It suggested the BJP publish a white paper outlining its funding and providing a timeline of the incidents leading up to the corporations giving to it that are under investigation. It also requested that the SC look into the issue.
In a letter to Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said that the incidents were a “clear case of legal extortion… which are only tip of the iceberg”.

23 out of 30 firms that have contributed Rs 188 crore to the BJP since 2019 had not given any money till they were raided by authorities, according to BJP spokesman Jairam Ramesh. Six of these corporations were BJP contributors, according to Venugopal’s letter to FM, but they made larger payments after agency searches. He continued by saying that six other donor corporations who skipped contributions in a given year were subject to agency action. He stated that the reason these corporations were giving to the BJP when they were facing ED charges needed to be looked into.

Ramesh said, “This modus operandi is serious because we want to know if Modi regime will replace electoral bonds with illegal ‘ED bonds’ and ‘I-T bonds’.”
He urged the BJP to provide a refutation of the presented facts. “If you are unwilling to come up with factual explanation, are you willing to present yourself for a SC-monitored probe into these dubious deals to loot donations for BJP?” questioned the lawyer.

Speaking to the minister of finance, Venugopal said that the ministry of finance is in charge of two out of three agencies. The country is aware of how your government remotely controls the agencies.Since 2014, the number of ED charges against politicians has increased fourfold, with opposition leaders being the target of 95% of prosecutions.”