The BJP’s lawmakers, members of Parliament and the State legislatures, will have to undertake an exercise closely resembling an annual income tax declaration, thanks to demonetisation of high-value notes.
A letter from BJP president Amit Shah, with an attached form (available with The Hindu ), has made its way to the inboxes of almost all party lawmakers, asking details of their banking transactions from November 9 (the day after the demonetisation decision was announced) to December 30 (the cut-off date for exchange or deposit of demonetised currency).
Apart from general questions regarding name and particulars, the one-page form asks for the amount of cash deposited in banks or post offices during the period, notes exchanged, and details of all bank accounts held by the member and the kind of account it is (savings or current).
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Revealing sources
The members have also been asked to disclose the source from which these deposits (whether personal savings or other sources) have been financed.
The same information is asked for in cases of exchange of old currency for new.
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The form also seeks information on transactions “in respect of member or his/her spouse or by any of his/her dependent children who have no separate means and are fully dependent on the member”.
At the BJP’s parliamentary party meeting on November 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked party legislators to undertake this exercise and set a cut-off date of January 1 for all declarations to be in.
This was in reaction to the Opposition’s accusation that BJP leaders had been in the know of the decision to demonetise and had laundered cash holdings.
Interest of probity
A letter, written by Mr. Shah accompanies the form. “The honourable Prime Minister had requested all legislators to furnish details of their accounts while talking of political probity. You, too, have to encourage electronic exchange,” the letter stated.
MPs’ stand
Senior MPs confirmed that they had received the form and were “collating information”.
“There is no question of not providing the information, but we will wait for the last date,” said one Lok Sabha member.
BJP sources say that larger declarations and deposits of cash will help the party dispel the perception that it was in the know of the decision. “We hope it will demonstrate to the public that we were as much in the dark as the other political parties,” said a senior office-bearer.