Abuse of power is common in India. Political parties stand out in such instances. Time and again, they have proved that they may have ideological and practical differences but when it comes to making politics more shady than before, they reach unanimous consensus in no time. More of it might be in the offing with the recent Finance Bill Amendments.
1) The good news spread that there will be a threshold of ₹2000 for anonymous donation to a political party. But it’s of no use. Previously, the threshold was ₹20000. So now, instead of making one anonymous donation of ₹20000, a person can make ten donations of ₹2000 each. There is no cap on the number of anonymous transactions that you can make. What is the difference?
2) Previously, companies could donate up to 7.5% of net profits to political parties and had to reveal who they donated to. The bill proposes to remove the 7.5% cap and the requirement to disclose the political party to which the donation has been made.
Not only will this lead to an increase in the strength of the corporates in the politics of the country but also make the citizens feel cheated over promises of transparent and honest politics, decrease in red-tape and so on. Inclusion of political parties under the RTI act still remains a desirable yet an unachievable change.