BJP got money from firm under lens for ‘terror funding’: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday launched a scathing attack on the BJP, accusing it of receiving donation from a company accused of buying properties from a Dawood Ibrahim aide.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala cited a media report claiming that the saffron party took a large donation from a firm currently under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate for carrying out transactions with and buying properties from the late Iqbal Mirchi, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts and a close aide of Dawood. Mr Surjewala tweeted, “BJP’s donation saga gets murkier — #Electoral Bond Scam to donations from accused of ‘terror funding’! Why did BJP receive crores in donation from a Co. accused of buying properties of Iqbal Mirchi, a Dawood Ibrahim aide? Is this not ‘treason’ Mr. Amit Shah?”

A report on a news website claimed that the BJP took a large sum of money from RKW Developers Ltd, the company which the ED is probing for its alleged connection with Mirchi. The report has cited the BJP’s filings with the Election Commi-ssion as the source of this information. It said the RKW donated Rs 10 crore to the saffron party in 2014-15. The report also said that a company, Sunblink Real Estate, facing the ED charges of buying Mir-chi’s properties, is linked via a common directorship to another company, which made Rs 2-crore donation to the BJP.

The Congress has gone on the offensive against the BJP over funding via the electoral bond route.  The party demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi break his silence over the issue.

The issue of electoral bonds has snowballed into a political flashpoint following reports that the Reserve Bank of India and the Election Commission had reservations against them, but were overruled by the Modi government.