No end to Congress fund crunch in sight

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Congress Lok Sabha candidates in Karnataka have been facing a severe fund crunch as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has asked them to not withdraw from the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) bank accounts.

Apparently, the state Congress has two Fixed Deposits (FDs) that yield a high interest, meant specifically for poll funding.

The party is hoping that its central leadership will lift the restrictions in the near future because campaigning is already underway.

It is said that the reason behind the restriction is that Congress’ four main bank accounts had been frozen by the Income-Tax (I-T) Department.

The justification being given was that the department found fault with earlier Income Tax returns by the party.

Moreover, I-T Department has been demanding Rs 210 crores in back taxes.

The party has found little relief from courts as well. The AICC leadership promptly branded the cases “tax terrorism” by the BJP.

They alleged that the ruling party at the Centre is controlling institutions to punish Opposition parties and to deny them a level playing field. The consequences have been dire for the state Congress as a result.

They have had to rely on crowdsourcing and donors to meet their campaign expenses. Moreover, the party even alleges that donors sympathetic to the Congress have been issued I-T Department notices.

Recently, Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar had alleged that he had received I-T Department notices over “settled cases”.

Candidates for Lok Sabha seats can spend up to Rs 95 lakh and the party is expected to meet a part of the expenses.

However, it hasn’t been the case this time. Party candidates who are facing scarcity of resources include BN Chandrappa who is the ticket holder for the Chitradurga Lok Sabha segment, Jayaprkaash Hegde from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, KV Gowtham from Kolar and Rajeev Gowda from Bengaluru North.

Congress tried to navigate this fund crunch by agreeing to the demands of as many as five sitting ministers in CM Siddaramaiah’s Cabinet to give tickets to their children. In return, the ministers have pledged to fund the election campaign of their children.