‘Want to continue loot’: Congress slams FM for ‘electoral bonds will be back’ remark
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said the BJP is claiming that the electoral bonds scheme was brought for transparency but the SC had stated the opposite while declaring it "unconstitutional"
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that the BJP plans to reintroduce electoral bonds in some capacity following extensive consultations with all stakeholders, if it is elected to power in the 2024 general elections.
“We still have to do a lot of consultation with stakeholders and see what is it that we have to do to make or bring in a framework which will be acceptable to all, primarily retain the level of transparency and completely remove the possibility of black money entering into this,” said Sitharaman while talking to the Hindustan Times.
However, the Centre has not yet decided whether to seek a review of the ruling made by the Supreme Court (SC), she said. “What the scheme, which has been just thrown out by the Supreme Court, brought in was transparency. What prevailed earlier was just free-for-all,” she added.
Congress flays BJP
Meanwhile, the Congress on Saturday lashed out at the BJP over Sitharaman’s reported remarks that electoral bonds will be brought back after consultations, alleging that after looting Rs 4 lakh crore of public money, they want to “continue the loot.”
In a post on X, Ramesh said, “Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has declared that if the BJP returns to power, they will bring back the Electoral Bonds that the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional and illegal!”
“We know that the BJP looted Rs 4 lakh crore of public money in the #PayPM scam. Now they want to continue the loot,” he alleged.
“This is the most important election of our lifetime. Thankfully, as ground reports make clear, this corrupt brigade is on its way out!” the Congress leader asserted.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal also said the BJP is claiming that the electoral bonds scheme was brought for transparency but the Supreme Court had stated the opposite while declaring it "unconstitutional".
Sibal also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for defending the electoral bonds, saying it was "wrong" to talk in this manner during polls when the Supreme Court had given its decision.
Sibal had led the argument for petitioners in the case against the scheme in the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court verdict
On February 15, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court scrapped the Centre's electoral bonds scheme of anonymous political funding, calling it "unconstitutional" and ordered disclosure by the Election Commission of the donors, the amount donated by them and the recipients.
Following a directive from the apex court, the State Bank of India, which was the authorised seller of electoral bonds, shared data on electoral bonds which was then made public.
The Congress has alleged that the electoral bonds data has exposed "corrupt tactics" of the BJP such as quid pro quo and grant of "protection" to companies against donations.
(With agency inputs)