By Afroz Alam Sahil, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janta Party may strongly pitch for beef ban across the country, but the ruling party has no qualms when it comes to taking donations from beef exporters.
The list of donors submitted by the BJP to the Election Commission shows that in 2014-15, Frigorifico Allana Pvt. Ltd, a beef exporting company from Maharashtra, donated Rs 50 lakh via a cheque from Vijaya Bank (cheque number-846317).
The four directors for the company, which was established in 1986, include the names of Delhi-based Siraj Mahmood, and Rafeeq Razzaq Patel, Ismail Ghani Mohammed and Moiz Mansoor Chunawala from Maharashtra.
In 2013-14 also, the company had donated Rs 75 lakh to the BJP. Interestingly, the address listed by the company is the same as the one listed by Indargo Foods Ltd, which also donated Rs 75 lakh to the party. Apart from these two, Frigerio Converva Allana Ltd also donated Rs 50 lakh to the party.
Indargo is also engaged in beef export. The directors of the company include Jayprakash Nandlal Atal, Lennas Francis and Irshad Ahmed. However, Frigerio Converva is not listed in the list of registered companies issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
When Sambit Patra, spokesperson, BJP, was contacted on the matter, he said he would not be able to comment on the matter since he did not know who and what took how much.
On the other hand, Nalin Kohli, spokesperson, BJP, denied any knowledge on the matter.
As per an amendment of the Representation of People’s Act (1951) in 2003, it has been said that under Section 29 (C), subsection (1), every political party must inform the EC, through Form 24 (A), of the donations received through all institutions and individuals. This rule is applicable only for donations above Rs 20,000.
In 2014/15, donations to BJP rose 156% over the last financial year, to Rs 437.5 crore. This is also higher than donations received by any other political party.
The BJP has been in controversies earlier too regarding donations received. In 2006-07, the party took a donation of Rs 1 lakh from the Dow Chemicals, which is the current owner of Union Carbide, the company responsible for the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.
It is pertinent to mention here that in last year of the BJP government, beef export from India has increased while the ban on domestic consumption has become more vigilant after stricter laws passed in Maharashtra, Haryana and reports of cow vigilant groups taking up on themselves to punish whoever is even found transporting cattle.