New Delhi, April 3 (IANS) The BJP and the RSS are pumping in "humongous" amounts of money never seen before to win the Lok Sabha polls to create a "Hindu Rashtra", the CPI-M said Thursday.
The manner in which the BJP along with the RSS was spending money to ensure the victory of its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi "is indeed unprecedented", the CPI-M journal "People's Democracy" said.
"The volume of money and resources already spent are, indeed, humongous -- a scale that independent India has never seen before," said an editorial in the journal.
It said the recently enhanced Election Commission's limit on expenditures per candidate per constituency of Rs.70 lakh had already been far exceeded by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, on just one issue: in projecting the prime ministerial aspirant Narendra Modi.
"If the expenditure generally incurred by the BJP as a political party on its propaganda and on its other candidates nationwide is added, then already more than double of the Election Commission limit would have been exceeded per constituency."
The CPI-M journal said the BJP was getting away with it without any scrutiny because of a serious flaw in law.
Currently, there is no limit on the expenditures incurred by a political party on its election campaign.
The CPI-M said it had all along demanded that like a limit fixed for a candidate's expenditure, a limit too must be fixed for party expenditures.
"Not surprisingly, no other national political party agreed with our suggestion! As a result, political parties with access to lesser resources, though with greater support amongst the people, suffer due to the current rules governing the electoral process in our country.
"There are restrictions placed on wall writings, postering and other means of less expensive propaganda while the more expensive ones like media advertisements, paid news, paid opinion polls, hiring helicopters and private jets to ferry party leaders for campaign have virtually no restrictions imposed.
"Indian democracy is, in today's conditions, rapidly degenerating into democracy as a right that can only be exercised by the moneyed and the privileged. This does not auger well for the future of our democracy."
The journal said the BJP and the RSS want to convert India from a secular democratic nation to a "Hindu Rashtra".
"They see today an opportunity for an unfolding of their vision which they could not on the earlier occasions when the BJP formed a government at the centre."
This time Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not going to the United Nations General Assembly i.e. U
The fall in the prices of cereals, wheat, onion, petrol, electricity, and minerals has brought re
MP News: Ban on BSC Nursing second year exam, High Court orders to shield answer sheets
The Gwalior Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has stayed the B.Sc Nursing second-year examin
Modi's lotus triggers row as millions vote in India
New Delhi, April 30 (IANS) Some 83 million voted in 89 Lok Sabha constituencies across India We
US Parliament Speaker Nancy Pelosi is visiting Taiwan. China is very upset about this and is cons
Waves 2025: Shahrukh Khan impressed by PM Modi's initiative, praised it on social media
Bollywood King Shah Rukh Khan was seen supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for the m
Imran Khan assassination attempt: PTI members resolve to continue protest till FIR is lodged
Protests continued across the country on Sunday as members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)
India is the number-1 one priority of the US in terms of getting an American visa. According to U
The Indian rupee on Thursday hit a historic low against the US dollar amid firming overseas marke
Because of the spread of the coronavirus epidemic in Shenzhen, China, restrictions related to cov
