Congress Candidates Aren’t Getting Much Money From The Party

NEW DELHI: As if the burden of incumbency wasn’t enough, Congress's task in the current Lok Sabha polls seems to have been further complicated by what party managers claim is a severe funds crunch, which has put it at a further disadvantage vis-a-vis a resurgent BJP.

A Congress heavyweight told this paper, “Between Congress and BJP, they are getting 90% of the money, we are getting just 10%.” Even if that sounds like a bit of an exaggeration, conversations with Congress candidates and their managers over the past week indicate that the ruling party has, for a change, been vastly outgunned by the BJP, and may actually be running on half-empty.

“I have seen several Lok Sabha and assembly elections, but the financial deficit Congress is facing this time is unprecedented,” says a veteran Congress MP.

Saffron is daubed all over – on billboards, bus stand shelters, kiosks and newspapers – forming the backdrop to the smiling visage of Narendra Modi. When you don’t see him, you hear him on the radio and on your phone. Indeed, rarely has the country seen such an election advertising blitz.

In comparison, the Congress appears in bits and patches. Rahul Gandhi, with several aam admi and aurat in tow, stands defensively with his hands folded on billboards, which are few and far between.

Party managers in states like Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Maharashtra say the money this time is well below normal. The big donors – industrialists and other sundry moneybags – appear to have divined which way the wind is blowing. And their money is flowing in that direction.

While Congress claims the gap is due to big business's proximity to Modi – there are stories of how at least two houses are backing him to the hilt – those familiar with the business of campaign finance say India Inc makes a cold-blooded assessment of the prospects of different contenders, more so in this era of coalitions and diverse polity when different parties are at the helm in different states and smaller parties enjoy disproportionate clout in decision-making. So the money is distributed after calculating who needs to be kept happy where.

Congress’s own success in the UPA years bears testimony to this. The party, which won in 2004 ostensibly because of a backlash against BJP’s ‘India Shining’ pitch – shorthand for pro-business – and zealously pursued its aam aadmi plank, pulled in more funds than the BJP in the last decade.

According to income tax returns filed by the two parties and analyzed by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Congress’ income in 2004-05, the year UPA-1 was formed, was Rs 222 crore against BJP’s Rs 104 crore. Ever since, the ruling party’s coffers have swelled and its total income in the eight years till 2011-12, the latest for which I-T returns are available, was Rs 2,338 crore. During the eight-year period, BJP received Rs 1,303 crore. The big two were followed by CPM with an income of Rs 520 crore and BSP with around Rs 500 crore.

This story seems to have changed. Congress veterans in Uttar Pradesh say flow of funds from the party is down almost 30% this time. The party typically sends one-fourth of the amount by cheque to the candidate’s account. The rest comes in cash; this is mainly directed towards winnable seats. Said a sitting MP from Maharashtra: “The well-off candidates can make do without leaning on the party, but the others are badly hamstrung this time.”

Leading business houses, and sectors that are flush with cash like real estate and mining, are this time almost fully behind the BJP. Half of the 48 Congress-NCP candidates in Maharashtra that TOI spoke to admitted as much. A top builder told this paper, “Most of us are very unhappy with the (Maharashtra) government. In the last three years, hardly any projects have been cleared.”

The paucity of funds is apparent from the delay in their disbursal. In 2009, “official” financial assistance came immediately after the names of candidates were announced. This year, the party candidates in Western UP – which goes to the polls in the first three rounds – have had to wait till the last date of withdrawal before receiving any assistance.

In the December assembly polls, sources said the central leadership gave Rs 60 lakh for most seats in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, while Delhi and Rajasthan had Congress governments which took care of the candidates.

Partymen in Chhattisgarh say only two seats are likely to see “extra and special” financial help. There was fond hope that the party would give funds to individual seats at par with what was given in 2009, with a hike based on five years of inflation – Rs 1 crore per seat. Nothing has come yet. The anxiety stems from the fact that Congressmen are up against candidates being supported by three-time chief minister Raman Singh who is flush with funds and has the backing of industrialists.

Most leaders in resource-rich Punjab are said to be capable of self-financing yet party money matters in the fight against Akali Dal. A senior leader confessed “it will be like this” – which means that expectations of central funding have to be lowered this time.

The most curious case is the financial powerhouse of Maharashtra. Though Congress has been in government in Mumbai for 15 years, a party leader confessed, “Even we are feeling it.” The state has traditionally done without central funding, but this time candidates are having to canvas support personally and even ask resourceful colleagues for help.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha and assembly polls, most Congress nominees had received a healthy financial boost from the party; some figures put it at Rs 50 lakh per candidate. Not this time.

UP Congress leaders say Congress follows a standard system for fund distribution here. Constituencies are graded ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘C’, depending on the strength of a candidate and the seat’s winnability, ‘A’ being the strongest and ‘C’ the weakest. Funds are then allotted accordingly.

Congressmen say the party has released up to Rs 50 lakh for seats like Ghaziabad and Saharanpur – both ‘A’ grade seats. Bigger electoral fights like Lucknow and Varanasi are expected to attract more funds – up to Rs 3-4 crore.

In all this, Congress leaders say, the worst affected would be states like Tamil Nadu where the party has no hope this election after its failure to find a strong ally. Given the dismal state of affairs, TN candidates are not only low on the central leadership’s list of priorities, they unable to find sponsors even locally.

In Karnataka, it’s different. Several Congress candidates have intensified their campaign minus any financial support from the party. But they aren’t complaining. “Gone are the days when we used to get an assured sum from the party. Now there is an unwritten rule in the party that candidates have to fight elections on their own. We are not sure whether it’s because of a funds crunch or any other reason,” says a party candidate, who is fighting his second successive Lok Sabha polls.

(With inputs from Swati Mathur in Lucknow, Prafulla Marpakwar in Mumbai, Naheed Ataullah in Bangalore, Joseph John in Raipur and Jairaj Sivan in Chennai)