New Delhi : The AAP on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to go for cashless donations to political parties if he was serious about curbing black money in politics.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Ashish Khetan said as of now both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got three quarters of all donations in cash from anonymous sources.
“If the Prime Minister and the central government want to end black money in elections, they can do it in 48 hours,” Khetan told the media here.
Under existing law, political parties do not need to furnish the details of their donors if they are contributing up to Rs 20,000.
This provision, Khetan explained, was used to break up large donations, including from corporates, into brackets of Rs 20,000 each so that they do not have to make public the details of donors.
“This will also happen if the upper limit is Rs 2,000,” he said, in response to a recent suggestion.
“All political parties should go cashless. Since everyone is being encouraged to use ATM, credit card, debit card and Paytm, why should this not be applicable to political parties?” he asked.
The AAP leader also urged the Prime Minister to amend the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, so that a cap was placed on how much each political party can spend as compared to individual candidates.
He said political parties should also come under the purview of the Right to Information Act so that people can get answers from them.