Gujarat Police has begun probe against several ‘paper’ political parties (which are registered, have symbols, but unrecognized). These parties field candidates for namesake and have no interest in win or loss. The single-point motto of these parties is to collect hundreds of cheques worth several thousand crores in different names, and after deducting 8-10 pc commission, they return the cash to the donors.
The motive is to collect cheques in small amounts and transfer them to dozens of shell companies. Later, cash is withdrawn from these shell companies for costs, and after deducting commission, cash is handed over to the donors. Nobody knows the names of these unknown parties. Some parties get Rs 1,000 crore, some parties get Rs 550 crore and some get Rs 250 crores. All of them are registered. When India TV reporter Nirnay Kapoor visited these ‘paper’ party offices, he found they were operating from a single or double-room flat. There was no leader or worker. Ahmedabad Crime Branch has now registered FIR against the ‘founders’ of these parties and those involved in money laundering.
The Income Tax Act provides exemption for all donations given to registered political parties, and these scamsters misused this. One ‘paper’ party, Bharatiya National Janata Dal, has been carrying out these fraudulent activities for the last 10 years. This party collected Rs 1,143 crore from 56,000 donors in the 2019 and 2024 LS elections. The party was being run from a two-room flat, it is now locked and the staff has absconded. Income Tax department has been investigating this matter for last four years, and four FIRs were filed. Among them are Swatantra Abhivyakti Party, which got Rs 519 crore donations. This party’s CA Mukesh Khatri’s office was raided by income tax sleuths and some documents were found. Case has been lodged against Surendra Tiwari, president of Swatantra Abhivyakti Party and two others. All three are absconding.
Another ‘paper’ party, Gareeb Kalyan Party, got Rs 206 crore donations in last three years. When our reporter went there, he found the owner had locked the office and vanished. The question now is: several hundred crores of rupees worth income tax were evaded, why didn’t the investigative agencies get any hint? Senior police officials said, the matter is not as simple as it looks. These ‘paper parties’ never take huge amounts of donations by cheques. They collect cheques of small amounts from thousands of people and transfer the money to dozens of shell companies. Later, in the name of operating costs, cash was withdrawn from shell accounts, and after deducting 8-10 pc commission, the rest of the cash was given to the donor. It was difficult for Income Tax department to catch the money trail. When the news was first broken by BBC, it was broadcast throughout the world. Opposition leaders sought to create an impression that these ‘paper’ parties and shell companies were connected with BJP. Since Gujarat is ruled by BJP, the BBC report became viral, but that impression proved to be incorrect.
Income Tax department has filed complaints, Gujarat police investigated, CID went into each and every bank account of these fake parties. Only then was it proved that it was a case of money laundering and it had no political connection. All transactions took place through shell companies. The parties were fake, donations were fake and documents were also fake. The entire scam was related to income tax evasion. Those who were levelling accusations against the government are now hiding their face.
Outsiders must stay away from Ujjain issue
Fake AI-generated videos were posted on social media by Imran Khan and Sajid Khan to incite communal passions in Ujjain. On Instagram and Facebook, they posted fake reels of JCBs and Poclain excavators. The reality was: there were none. Three other ‘influencers’ Gulrez Khan, Billoo Pathan and Arif Pathan made provocative reels. These reels were made viral on more than 100 accounts on FB and Instagram.
As tension flared, thousands gathered outside the Shahi mosque. 8 FIRs were filed, and 20 persons including those named above were arrested. There is peace in Ujjain now. People from Masjid Committee are themselves removing their portions which are required for expanding the road. District Magistrate Roshan Kumar Singh said, the roads are being widened for the Sinhastha Kumbh Mela. Homes of common people, nearly 30 religious places including 20 temples are being either demolished or shifted. It is incorrect to say, he said, that action is being taken only against Shahi Masjid.
Temples demolished include 25-year-old Chintaharan Ganesh temple, 150-year-old Sankat Mochan temple, and 10-feet of 100-year-old Radhakrishna Pranami temple. Some points are clear. Temples and some portions of masjid had to be demolished to widen the path. Both temple and masjid owners voluntarily carried out the demolition. None of the local Muslims had any objection when this partial demolition took place, but there are people everywhere who try to inflame communal passion. Some incited temple owners and some instigated masjid owners. Those who demolished temples were local people, while outsiders came in to ‘protect’ the masjid. They refused to listen to Shahar Qazi. A Muslim outfit staged a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. Muslim leaders said, mosques are being targeted. It is not difficult to understand. UP is going for assembly polls early next year. This was the reason why Muslim MPs came to Jantar Mantar to raise the issue of Shahi Masjid in Ujjain.
Revanth must know, Lord Shiva, Ram belong to all
Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy made a surprising remark. He said, Prime Minister Modi always speaks about Lord Ram in his speech, but chants Har Har Mahadev rarely. He then went on to explain that Lord Shiva is the god of poor and is popularly worshipped in the South, while Lord Ram is the god of rich and is worshipped in the North.
It was left to UP CM Yogi Adityanath to react. He said, there are many ‘Kalnemis’ in politics who are trying to divide Hindus. He asked Sanatanis to be on their guard. I am surprised why a sensible leader like Chief Minister Revanth Reddy tried to divide Lord Shiv and Lord Ram into North vs South. He probably knows where are the shrines of Kashi Vishwaanath, Mahakaleshwar temple and Kedarnath. He forgot Modi represents Varanasi, the abode of Lord Shiva, and he frequently chants Har Har Mahadev. Yogi is right when he said, Hindu saints never made this North-South difference. Lord Ram himself worshipped Lord Shiva. It does not seem Revanth Reddy wanted to divide Hindu society. I think he said this out of lack of knowledge.