K N Govindacharya tells Election Commission to check use of black money by BJP, Congress

NEW DELHI: Alleging use of blackmoney by BJP and Congress to fund their election campaigns, former RSS ideologue K N Govindacharya today approached the Election Commission asking it to instruct the RBI to check remittances made to social media companies by the two political parties.

In a petition to Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath, he alleged that industrial houses and "capitalist forces, through proxy political leaders, are spending huge amount of money, mostly on publicity through print, electronic and Internet to hijack the democratic setup."

Quoting Union minister and Congress leader Anand Sharma, he said BJP's Prime Ministerial nominee Narendra Modi has a publicity budget of Rs 10,000 crore, of which 90 per cent is blackmoney.

"If it is correct, almost whole of the spending constitutes blackmoney since as per 2011-12 Income Tax return, BJP has shown receipt of approximately Rs 168 crore," he said. Modi has denied the allegations and has asked for thorough investigation. Govindacharya, who heads the Save Democracy Front, said Anand Sharma's statement makes it evident that Congress' advertisement budget is Rs 400 crore.

"However, as per Income Tax Return of 2011- 12, Congress' total receipt is said to be of Rs 307 crore," he said. The petition requested the EC to direct the RBI to check remittances made by political parties to Internet companies to check the use of blackmoney in the process.