It is stunning but true that the accounts of the major political parties plummet than the normal companies. Inspite of the GDP crisis, the scams and whatnot, one sector that is undeterred by these calamities is ofcourse, politics. As a list of the coffers of the leading political parties in the nation are noted by ET, the truth dawns. With Congress, the leader has garnered Rs 1,662 Cr as donations, while the major opposition BJP has collected only Rs 852 Cr in the last five years upto 2011-12 FY. And the third in the league was Uttar Pradesh Mayawati led BSP which received Rs 425 Cr. Followed by CPI-M with Rs 335 Cr and Samajwadi Party collecting Rs 200 Cr and Sharad Pawar’s NCP getting Rs 140 Cr in the same period.

Though the contributions come from various, mostly, unknown sources, one common factor were all the parties received maximum funds in 2009, when the country was having the general elections. Most of the details sourced from the I-T returns; show that not all major parties have mentioned specific sources of funding.

The issue gathers importance as an Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has obtained the I-T returns and has forwarded the same to Central Board of Direct Taxes demanding a probe into undisclosed contributions to parties. As per estimates, nearly 90 percent of the funds have come from undisclosed sources. ADR, as the name suggests advocates reforms for more transparency in funding of political outfits. Observers feel that if this grassroots level issue is dealt deftly, the whole electorate would be fairer. Then politics would become a level playing ground for all parties, including the new ones.   (With inputs from internet- AW AarKay)