The Rs 60,000 Crore Question the BJP Needs to Answer About its Financials !

[bhaigan]

https://thewire.in/politics/the-rs-60000-crore-question-the-bjp-needs-to-answer-about-its-financials

Krishnagiri (Tamil Nadu): A shiny new building stands on the national highway between Bangalore and Chennai, three kilometres from the town of Krishnagiri in northwestern Tamil Nadu.

Inaugurated just last year, this five-floored building — roughly 12 metres wide and 16 metres long; painted cream and white with orange highlights — could pass as a residential apartment but for two unusual features.

First, the parking space out in front is disproportionately large – almost three times the plinth area. Second, embossed atop it is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s trademark saffron and green lotus.

This is the BJP’s new party office in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district.

It is the result of an announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, back in August 2014, that the party should have offices in all states and districts, each “equipped with all the modern communication facilities”. The very next year, the BJP decided to build new offices in 635 of 694 districts in the country. By March 2023, that target had been hiked to 887 district party offices.

The logic was impeccable. As Arun Singh, a BJP general secretary, told the Economic Times in 2020, “Earlier…an MLA or local leader (would) make the office on his own premise [sic]. Because of this, several other leaders will not come to the office. Since the party has grown, it should have offices on its own with all facilities like library, conference hall and video and audio conferencing room.”

In March 2023, while physically inaugurating the Krishnagiri office — and nine others in Tamil Nadu through video conferencing — BJP national president J.P. Nadda told reporters that work on 290 district offices has been completed. Work was underway on the rest.

This construction spree by the BJP has not received the attention it deserves.

The BJP’s construction blitz

In terms of size, the party office in Krishnagiri is not an outlier.