The Congress on Wednesday challenged the BJP to present details of those who are financing its poll campaign.
Alleging that Narendra Modi and LK Advani were silent on the issue of black money during the campaign, Law Minister Kapil Sibal, who is also in charge of Telecom, said unaccounted money worth ₹5,000 crore is being spent to create a ‘Modi wave’.
Sibal said the BJP has spent about ₹400 crore only for organising rallies. For a Lucknow rally, Sibal said, 29 trains were booked to ferry people, costing ₹5 crore. About 6,000 buses worth ₹10 crore and 15,000 SUVs and other vehicles worth ₹10 crore were spent by the party.
“Another ₹15 crore was spent on food, lodging and other arrangements,” he said, adding that ₹20 crore was spent on the Bangalore rally and ₹300 crore on other rallies in Uttar Pradesh.
“If this is the level of expenditure before the model code came into force, what about the expenditure on rallies after March 5?” he asked.
Sibal alleged that black money is being used for the Modi blitzkrieg. “Those who funded will seek favours. The rich will demand rich returns. There is no free lunch. The nation will be on sale. This is a party for the rich, by the rich,” he said.
Sibal also said that the total cost of 15,000 hoardings put up by the BJP all over the country would be around ₹2,500 crore. The budget for TV advertisements on various channels would be between ₹800 crore and ₹1,000 crore, he said.
The Minister also hinted that the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation are looking into the huge expenses by the BJP.
Later, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma told reporters from the AICC platform that even opinion polls are manipulated to favour Modi.
“These opinion polls are different from the situation on the ground,” he said and alleged that a particular survey agency had direct connections with Apco Worldwide, Modi’s image managers.