As per The Reporters’ Collective, the BJP declared Rs 77.63 crore in gifts received by cheque and electronic transfer from Tripura, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh for 2022-23 and 2023-24. Of this, at least 54.89% or over Rs 42.6 crore came from individuals and companies with government contracts or regulatory approvals from state governments or Union government agencies. Or put differently, if an organisation that gets government work funds the ruling party, where does public interest end and political intervention begin?
The state figures are just as remarkable. In Tripura, that share was 84.12% in 2022-23 and over 61.7% in 2023-24; in Assam, donors with government contracts or regulatory clearances represented 64.48% of its target BJP donations for 2022-23 and 52.34% for 2023-24. In Arunachal Pradesh, more than half of the targeted donations to the BJP, over 20,000 in 2023-24, came from donors who had won government contracts.
Taxpayers fund these deals. They’re meant for building roads, upgrading infrastructure, and delivering services, not for creating a process that allows large corporations to access the government and keeps ordinary people on the sidelines of economic growth.
Just to be clear, these numbers are disclosures of financial connections between contributions and contracts, not necessarily evidence that a contract was exchanged for a bribe or that someone paid someone else money for a contract. But the pattern warrants further investigation. How were the tenders awarded? Were those who bid for them treated fairly? Are people able to check that taxes are being spent in accordance with their needs and priorities?
It is not just about who funds the BJP. It boils down to this: should we trust a system where political money and government contracts collide?
People in the Northeast deserve development that actually makes their lives better. They deserve open, fair procurement. They deserve transparent audits and clear disclosure of political giving. They should never have to question whether their access to publicly funded contracts depends on how close they are to their legislators.
The BJP has much to answer to the public in this investigation, with concrete evidence, not empty words. State governments must release information about contracts given and procurement documents for scrutiny. Where there are credible allegations of cronyism, they must be investigated.
