UP: Power is money is the message from BSP,SP returns

This is reflected most prominently in donations. During 2010-11,donations to the ruling BSP was Rs 71.38 crore,25 times as much as the Rs 2.76 crore the Samajwadi Party received,according to their respective ITRs,copies of which The Indian Express has accessed. And in 2005-06,when the SP was in power,it collected Rs. 40.33 crore as donations,which was over 15 times the BSP’s Rs 2.55 crore.

Earnings from membership too have been higher to the power. The BSP’s Rs 22.29 crore in 2010-11 contrasts with the SP’s Rs. 1.72 crore. The difference had been less wide in 2005-06,with the SP then leading the BSP Rs 4.95 crore to Rs 3.55 crore.

The BSP filed its present ITR on August 30 and the SP on November 9,Income Tax department sources said. The SP’s accounts were audited by Praveen Agrawal of Batra Agrawal Associates (Kanpur); the BSP’s by Manoj Kumar Jain of Manoj Santosh and Company (Ghaziabad). “These financial statements are the responsibility of the assessee,” says a note by the SP’s auditors.

Under Election Commission rules,political parties have to disclose the names of donors who have contributed more than Rs 20,000 in any single instalment. The SP has attached a list of four such donors – ITC Limited (Kolkata),General Electoral Trust (Noida),Electoral Trust (Mumbai) and Rishiraj Constructions (Agra) – which between them contributed Rs 1.94 crore (during 2009-10).

In contrast,the BSP,with Rs 71.38 crore in donations,attaches a certificate by treasurer Ambeth Rajan,declaring that “we have not received any single voluntary contribution in excess of Rs 20,000 during the financial year 2010-11”.

The certificate mentions that the party has Rs. 141.79 crore as “cash in hand”. It has put Rs 187.12 crore in two bank accounts,the ITR says.

The BSP has not put a value on its immovable assets. It has declared,“Value of immovable assets shown in the balance sheet as on 1st March 2011 has been taken on cost basis.” On the other hand,the SP has mentioned the value of each of its assets,including its buildings and offices,at 10 per cent less than that of the previous year.