The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) allegedly paid left parties such as the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India and its allies as much as Rs 40 crore before the Lok Sabha elections.
The DMK gave the CPI and CPI(M) paid Rs 15 crore and Rs 10 crore and another Rs 15 crore was distributed too alliance partners such as CPI and Kongu Nadu Democratic Party. The DMK's total expenditure in the self-declared affidavit is Rs 79.26 crore. The party won all the 21 seats it contested in. The CPI(M) refuted the media reports and clarified that the "amount" stated in the media reports are concocted.
"Reports have appeared in a section of the media regarding the election funding and expenditure of the CPI (M). This is nothing but disinformation designed to discredit the Party. The "amount" stated in the media report as Party expenditure is concocted," CPI (M) stated in its press release dated September 24.
The press release further stated that all the donations and funds received during the period of the Lok Sabha elections have been reflected in the statement of election accounts which is submitted to the Election Commission of India.
"This includes donations and contributions received from all over the country including Tamil Nadu. Nothing is hidden as falsely alleged. Secondly, the statement of accounts has given the full expenditure incurred by the Party during the elections," it added.
It also stated that all this can be verified when the statement of accounts will be put up on the official website of the Election Commission of India.
According to some media reports, which quoted the election affidavit of the DMK, stated that Rs 25 crore has been given to the opposition parties. A sum of Rs 15 crore was given to the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Rs 10 crore to the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Further, the reports also claimed that the Left parties have not mentioned this amount in their election expenditure affidavit until now.
The BJP’s general secretary in Tamil Nadu, Vanathi Srinivasan appreciated the DMK for it’s transparency and said, “It’s because the Central Government asked the political parties to come out clean that the DMK has openly admitted to spending so much money.”
When asked why the CPI(M) has refuted the claims, Vanathi stated that in such a case, the CPI(M) can file a complaint telling the Election Commission that it has not received any such money.
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