CHENNAI: A controversy erupted on Monday after a few newspaper reports claimed that the CPM party has not disclosed the donation it had received from the DMK, in the information it filed with the Election Commission. While the DMK had submitted that it donated Rs 10 crore to CPM through bank transfers in April 2019, the information on election expenditure filed by the CPM with the election commission, so far, has not disclosed the receipt of this amount from DMK.
The newspaper reports created a controversy with the BJP taking jibes at the CPM for failing to disclose the amount it received from the DMK during the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. CPM and DMK were allies in the election. In the affidavit submitted on July 10, the party had mentioned only the amount it had given to each of its candidates during the campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. In an affidavit filed later on September 13, it had only mentioned the expenses for the campaign in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
A few former election officials contacted by Express, said the expenditure incurred by the candidates is different from that incurred by the parties. Hence, the CPM’s affidavits pertain only to the expenditure related to its candidates’ needs, and does not necessarily include all the details of the financial transactions of the political party. The party may disclose the donation it received from DMK in affidavits it may file with the election commission in future.
When queried about the controversy, CPM State secretary K Balakrishnan, said, ”We have sent the details of all the receipts and expenditure to our national headquarters. And we were told that the said details were consolidated and the same has been submitted with ECI. And all the transactions were made through a bank account. There is nothing that can be hidden.”
Besides CPM, DMK had donated Rs 15 crore to CPI during the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. The party had also donated Rs 15 crore to Kongu Nadu Democratic Party. All these payments were made by the party on various dates in April 2019 by RTGS.