New Delhi: Asserting it had "nothing to hide" about its income, the CPI(M) on Saturday said its members were major financial contributors to the party fund which also received donations from "poorer sections" of the people.
Maintaining that it has been submitting audited accounts to the income tax department and Election Commission every year, the party Politburo said the levy from its members or a portion of income earned by them amounted to almost 40 per cent of its total annual income.
Refuting reports that CPI(M) was one of the biggest beneficiaries of corporate donations, it said in a statement that it "does not accept donations from corporates.
"However, there have been contributions from some companies in Andhra Pradesh. These donations, when it came to the notice of the Politburo last year, was discussed and it was decided not to accept donations from companies, however small."
The party said it has been regularly submitting the names of all donors who donated more than Rs 20,000, as per the provisions of the IT Act and People`s Representation Act.
The party said it has "nothing to hide about the details of its income or about the list of donors" and a majority of the donors were "from the poorer sections of the people who donate only small amounts and far below Rs 20,000. Most of the fund of the Party is collected at ward, village, taluk and district levels" and all records and receipts were kept and maintained.
In the statement, the party made public a consolidated statement of its income from 2005 to 2011 submitted before the IT department and Election Commission.
It said the Central Committee has also decided to publish the details of its income, the list of donors who donated above Rs 20,000, including the names of individuals and companies and other details on its website.
PTI
