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A bankrupt party now finds donors playing elusive
Congress are eternal optimists; but Ahmed Patel, the party's
treasurer, may be stretching the definition a little too far.
Patel, who took charge of the Congress' finances in October 1996,
says, "I can assure you when I quit as treasurer, the party will
have a surplus."
The belief in the future is touching. For the present, India's
oldest political party is bankrupt-worried how it will fund the
coming election campaign. It is paying an interest of 22 per cent
on an overdraft (said to run into crores) at Allahabad Bank and
other banks. The All-India Congress Committee is even facing
problems meeting its monthly running expenses of Rs 15 lakh.
The arrival of Sonia Gandhi has actually added to the worries.
Sonia's campaign costs will be considerable as "her security
entourage will match that of the prime minister". Her initial
tour to the south will be undertaken on regular airline flights.
Later, the party plans to charter a plane and four helicopters
for her exclusive use. This alone will require it Rs 7 crore.
An informal fund-raising committee is already at work. It
consists of Patel, Jitendra Prasada, the party's three major
chief ministers- Digvijay Singh of Madhya Pradesh, J.B. Patnaik
of Orissa and Virbhadra Singh of Himachal Pradesh-and well-known
Sonia loyalists. It has drawn up a list of 150 potential mega-
donors, largely those who contributed liberally to Indira and
Rajiv Gandhi's campaigns.
However, these 150, among them industrialists, exporters and
hawala traders, are being niggardly. Doubts over the party's long-
term prospects have been compounded by a sluggish economy. The
chief ministers have expressed their inability to virtually
bankroll a national election campaign.
Even so. the Congress is hoping to raise Rs 100 crore from
veteran donors. It is also crafting alternative funding
mechanisms. Resourceful leaders have been asked to look after
immediate neighbours or even whole states. For instance, Sharad
Pawar has been given charge of Maharashtra. Well-connected
partymen like Praful Patel, H.K.L. Bhagat and R.K. Dhawan (whose
candidature from the New Delhi scat has already been announced)
have been told that their tickets are dependent on their capacity
to fill the party's war chest. Party President Sitaram Kesri
admits in Tamil Nadu alone, Rs 6 lakh has been collected from
3,700 ticket-seekers.
That matters are grave is clear from Kesri's statement that, "I
have told candidates the party will not be able to give more than
Rs 2 lakh to each of them. Some won't be paid at all." Others
insist Kesri is hoping he can give each nominee Rs 5 lakh.
Nevertheless, the figure will fall well short of Rs 15 lakh, the
Election Commission's ceiling, not to speak of any illegal
incremental budget.
The Congress is also wary of the tax authorities. Since its bank
accounts are empty, it cannot suddenly deposit huge sums without
attracting attention and being asked to explain the source of
such income. Yet, the party cannot depend on cash transactions
alone as, say, plane-rental companies will demand payment by
cheque.
For a Congress used to unlimited expense accounts, all this must
be devastating. The propaganda blitz and the lavish
advertisements-begun when Rajiv hired Rediffusion in 1984-may be
muted this time. In contrast to the 20 video films which P.V
Narasimha Rao commissioned in 1996, treasurer Patel talks of "two
or three in 1998". Yesterday is history; how to beat the deficit
is a mystery.
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