Attempts made bring transparency in political funding are eyewash: Trinamool Congress

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress has dismissed the Narendra Modi government’s proposal in Budget 2017 aimed at bringing in transparency in political funding as "eyewash". The party said real reform is possible only through state funding of elections, a longstanding demand of its chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed restricting cash donation by a single donor to a political party to Rs 2,000 instead of Rs 20,000. "No significant measure has been taken to curb ambiguity in political funding. Restricting the cash donation to Rs 2,000 by one donor is not even practical. Now the parties will give more receipts. But how will it help in bringing transparency?" asked Sougata Roy, deputy leader of Trinamool Congress’ parliamentary party in Lok Sabha.

Jaitley also announced that donation to political parties can be made through cheques or digital payments. However, Roy said there are poor people who donate to political parties through cash and they have no way to go "cashless".

Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee termed the budget "clueless, useless, baseless, missionless, actionless and heartless".

"This is a controversial budget. There is no roadmap for the country or the future from a government that has lost all its credibility. Taxpayers still have restrictions on withdrawals," Banerjee said in a statement.

The chief minister demanded that the figures pertaining to demonetisation be made public and that all restrictions on cash withdrawal be removed immediately. "The budget is misleading. It is full of jugglery of numbers and hollow words which mean nothing," she said.