After Notes Ban, 104 Crores Added In Account Of Mayawati's BSP: Sources

New Delhi: Around Rs 104 crore have been deposited in an account belonging to the Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP since the central government's announcement on currency ban, sources in the Enforcement Directorate have said. Another Rs 1.43 crore have been deposited in the account of party chief Mayawati's brother, the investigators said.

The Enforcement Directorate zeroed in on the accounts while conducting searches on a branch of the Union Bank. It was one of the banks being being investigated to check on possible cases of money laundering after the government scrapped the two high denomination notes.

Agency sources said money had been deposited in the accounts of Anand Kumar and the BSP since the ban on 500 and 1000 rupee notes was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8.  While the name of the branch is yet to be disclosed, the search operation is still on, sources said.

Under the Income Tax Act, the income of political parties is exempt from tax provided all donations above Rs. 20,000 are taken by cheque and lower ones are properly documented, with full details of the donors. These accounts also have to be audited.

Days after the currency ban, finance minister Arun Jaitley had said political parties can also deposit their cash held in the old currency in banks till December 30 without having to pay tax, provided they can explain the source of income. But he said the parties cannot accept donations in the banned currency and their books of accounts should reflect the entries prior to November 8.

The BSP is one of the key players in the coming assembly elections in the state, scheduled to be held next year.

Following the ban on high denomination currency, which the government said was meant to check corruption and flush out black money, the Congress had alleged that the move was political and made only for winning the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

(With inputs from PTI)