New Delhi: The BJP’s bank balance took a quantum leap from Rs 88 crore in 2004 to Rs 10,107 crore in 2024, while the Congress’s registered a modest increase to Rs 133 crore from Rs 38 crore in the same period , Congress treasurer Ajay Maken told the Rajya Sabha Thursday, underscoring in his words the growing absence of a “level playing field” in Indian democracy.

Maken said the figures he cited were based on data in the public domain released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) after every Lok Sabha poll, reflecting the campaign expenses declared by every political party and their declared bank balances.

He alleged that many businessmen and industrialists had told him in private that they were threatened with action by the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department

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