Tiwari fears BJP fund misuse, says clear cheque in a month

New Delhi: Fearing misappropriation of party funds, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party chief Manoj Tiwari has directed the office bearers concerned to ensure that cheques related to party events and other expenditure were not kept pending for long and that the same were cleared within a month.

Mr Tiwari issued these directions after cheques related events and other expenditures were put up before him for approval after several months.

The issue came up during the party’s weekly meeting, on Friday, when Mr Tiwari raised objection as to why cheques were presented before him for signature six months after an event or programme got over.

“The state president said that many cheques were three or six months old. He also said that he did not know whether any expenditure was actually made or not,” said a party leader present in the meeting. According to a Delhi BJP leader, Mr Tiwari said that the party expenses are sky rocketing and it’s becoming difficult to manage expenditure using reserve.

“Mr Tiwari claimed that regular unchecked expenses will dry up the party’s reserve and will lead to financial crisis in managing the day to day affairs,” he added.

It is also learnt that Mr Tiwari has also decided to put a cap on the expenditure of the party’s each and every event.

“Mr Tiwari believes that a budget must be approved and sanctioned for each and every event. Genuine and satisfactory explanation must be given if expenditure goes beyond the approved limit,” said a senior party functionary.  

A senior party functionary, aware of the handling of the party finances, told this newspaper that three key office bearers are responsible for all the expenditure made by the Delhi BJP.

“Not a single penny was supposed to be spent with the approval of the office secretary, the general secretary who was in-charge of that particular event or programme, and the treasurer. The state president signed cheques before issuing the same to the concerned person for payment. For any delay, the office secretary and general secretary in-charge of that particular event are responsible,” he added.

As per Mr Tiwari’s new directive, all the cheques are to be presented within a month of an event or it must be signed by the state president by the first week of every month.