BJD’s Mahtab questions funding formula of political parties

NEW DELHI: In a significant intervention in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab questioned the effectiveness of the proposed measures for political funding and demanded more effective steps for cleansing the system.

“An attempt has been made to cleanse the system of political funding by a provision that only around Rs 2,000 in cash per person can be received by political parties... Instead of showing a donation of Rs 20,000 from one source, the political party can conveniently say it was a donation from ten unknown sources,” Mahtab said.

On electoral bonds, he said: “Remember, each bond will require a serial number which will have to be entered into the bank register along with the names of donors. If such a register does not exist, it could end up with unscrupulous political parties printing bogus electoral bonds akin to the fake stamp case promoted by Telgi... It could be similar to the fake SGL bonds placed by Harshad Mehta...”