The CPI (M) on Thursday requested the Election Commission to take measures in checking flow of black money in the ongoing West Bengal Assembly elections, saying there was already evidence of use of illegal money in the state.
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“I request the Election Commission to institute measures in West Bengal (to check the flow of black money).
Let it set up check posts on all roads and hand over to the Income Tax department any unaccounted money that may be seized,” CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat told a press conference here.
He said the EC’s initiatives in recovering illegal money in Tamil Nadu had yielded Rs 50 crores in cash and another Rs 20 crores in materials.
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“Money has no boundaries. There is already evidence of (the use of illegal money) in West Bengal. The EC should also take steps to pre-empt black money in the state as it did in Tamil Nadu,” Mr. Karat said.
Referring to Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s comment during a recent election rally in North Bengal that the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government had failed to spend Central funds given to it, he said such statements undermined federalism.
“I would ask, is the Centre giving the money out of charity? In a federal system, the states have the right to share the taxes and revenues raised by the Centre. The Centre is bound by the Constitution to devolve portions of such taxes and revenues to the states,” he said.
Pointing out that at present, the Centre shared 32 per cent of the revenue that it raised from West Bengal, Mr. Karat said the state government wanted a 50 per cent share. “How the state government will spend the revenue is the business of the state government.”