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June 14, 2008

Party defensive on Dow Chemicals donation

Business Standard, June 14, 2008

The BJP appeared to be on the defensive after news reports that it had accepted donations from Dow Chemicals, the company which had taken over Union Carbide, implicated in the Bhopal gas tragedy.

Party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the party was going into the details of the donation. "In most cases donations have been accepted on the face value and we have not verified who signed the cheque," he said.

After the incident came to light, Rudy said, the party would put in place a system to check the background of donors to avoid such embarrassment in the future.

Earlier, documents made public under the Right to Information (RTI) Act had revealed that the party took $ 2,500 from Dow Chemicals. The information was disclosed by the Election Commission. Incidentally, the BJP is one of the first parties to accept donations only by cheques.

Nearly 3,000 people had died when the deadly methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal in December 1984.

There have been nearly 15,000 deaths related to the incident since then.

Senior party leader M Venkaiah Naidu said the party was verifying if the donation was by Dow Chemicals and that even if it was the case, it would not affect the party's resolve to get justice for the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy.

Posted by tim at 01:35 PM | Comments (0)

June 11, 2008

BJP in row over party donations

Panini Anand, BBC Hindi service, June 11, 2008

Dow Chemicals has acquired the controversial firm Union Carbide

India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accepted a $2,500 donation from Dow Chemical, government documents have revealed.

Dow Chemical is the American firm which bought the controversial company Union Carbide in 2001.

A gas leak from the Union Carbide plant in the central Indian city of Bhopal in 1984 killed nearly 3,000 people.

There have been at least 15,000 related deaths since. Survivors still suffer from chronic respiratory illnesses.

The leak of tonnes of methyl isocyanate gas from the plant in Bhopal owned by Union Carbide, now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, is considered one of the world's worst environmental disasters.

The information was revealed by the Election Commission of India after a freedom of information request on the funding of political parties and donations received by them between 2005 and 2007.

Senior BJP leaders said they would check party records before commenting.

Dow Chemical said the donation had been a one-off and broke no rules.

"It is a common practice in several democratic countries to give donations to political parties which is legal," a company spokesman said.

"Dow Chemical International Private Ltd made one such legal donation to the BJP in India. We have made no other political contribution."

'No justification'

Senior BJP leaders have often accused the Congress party of not taking action against those responsible for the gas leak.

Campaigners want legal action pursued against Union Carbide and Dow Chemicals and are angry that the BJP accepted the donation.

"Dow Chemicals, one of the biggest chemical companies globally, acquired a controversial firm like Union Carbide. Accepting a donation from them cannot be justified," Gopal Krishna of the Delhi-based NGO Toxics Watch said.

"It is a serious matter. If a political party behaves in this fashion, then they should be exposed," he said.

Political parties in India accept donations from individuals as well as from companies and industries.

But it is rare for a mainstream party to accept money from a firm which is mired in controversy.

Posted by tim at 08:00 PM | Comments (0)