Congress calls electoral bonds ‘extortion racket’, seeks SC-monitored probe

Alleging it to be the "biggest scam in India's history", the Congress on Saturday (March 16) stepped up its attack on the BJP-led government at the centre over the issue of electoral bonds and said a Supreme Court-monitored independent probe was essential to uncover the scam in its entirety.

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi described the electoral bonds scheme as an "extortion racket used for toppling governments and breaking political parties". Addressing people in Maharashtra's Thane during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Gandhi said, "The electoral bonds scheme is an international-level extortion racket and those who protest, the ED, CBI and income-tax department go after them."

"It is an extortion racket used for toppling governments led by opposition parties and breaking political parties," the Congress leader alleged.

Amit Shah’s claim

Noting that he fully respects the Supreme Court order on electoral bonds, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the scheme was introduced to do away with black money in politics and that it should have been improved rather than scrapped. “We have got Rs 6,000 crore despite having 303 MPs and the rest have got Rs 14,000 crore against 242 MPs. What is the hue and cry about? I can say that once the accounts are settled, they will not be able to face you all," Shah had said.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh hit out at the home minister for his remarks on the issue, accusing him of "lying and misleading" people.

Congress calls Amit Shah a liar

Ramesh said in a post on X, "As usual, Amit Shah is engaged in his full-time job – lying and misleading the people of India. He is completely wrong on the basic facts. Here is the reality: First, it is clear that Rs 6,000 crores have gone directly to the BJP. Substantial evidence has emerged that this money has come from corruption and extortion."

"Mr Shah has claimed that Rs 14,000 crore went to the Opposition. We understand that his government is used to manipulating data and is therefore uncomfortable with real numbers – but the total amount that non-BJP parties received is about Rs 6,000 crore," Ramesh added.

Ramesh claimed that of the Rs 6,000 crore, almost Rs 2,700 crore went to the "B-teams" of the Bharatiya Janata Party – some formally NDA members, some "informally".

Shah has claimed that the BJP has collected a larger share of the bonds as it has more MPs than any other political party, he said. "The absurdity of this argument aside, the Home Minister is misleading the people of India on a key issue: it is not only how much chanda the BJP has got, but how they have got, that reveals their corruption," Ramesh said.

SC-monitored essential

"While BJP received over 50 per cent of all electoral bonds, it controls 100 per cent of ED, 100 per cent of CBI and 100 per cent of IT department. The BJP controls 100 per cent of defence contracts, 100 per cent of national highway contracts, 100 per cent of railway contracts. It is through the control of these institutions of the state that the BJP has engaged in the four corrupt practices that we have outlined repeatedly – Chanda Do, Dhandha Lo (Give donations, get businesses), Hafta Vasuli (extortion), Theka Lo-Rishvat Do (get contracts after paying bribe), Farzi Companies (shell companies)," he alleged.

Ramesh further alleged that in addition to amassing all this money through corruption to fill its campaign coffers, the BJP has attempted to cripple the Congress financially by unleashing "Khatabandi (accounts blockade)". “The electoral bond scam, exposed as the biggest scam in India's history and declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of India, is the direct responsibility of the Prime Minister. An independent probe, monitored by the Supreme Court, is essential to uncover the full depth of this scam," Ramesh said.

Quid pro quo

In another post on X, he pointed out the above-mentioned four patterns of "corruption". Citing examples that are "concerning", Ramesh said infrastructure companies have donated vast sums of money.

“For instance, the second-largest donor of electoral bonds, Megha Engineering, was involved with the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project in Telangana, labelled the 'world's largest multi-stage lift irrigation project'," he claimed.

"Megha constructed some part of the Medigadda Barrage, a key part of the project. It so happens that the barrage has since started sinking, putting waste to Rs 1 lakh crore worth of taxpayers' money," he alleged.

The last few years have seen quite a few examples of such infrastructure failures, as for instance, in Gujarat's Morbi, Ramesh claimed.

The former environment minister also alleged that several companies have obtained green clearances after buying electoral bonds. "How much forest land has been lost to electoral bonds? Which Adivasi communities have had to bear the burden of keeping the BJP's coffers full?" he asked.

Noting that pharma companies have given thousands of crores in electoral bonds, Ramesh said some big donors, such as Hetero Drugs, have had to recall medicines from the US market due to impurities found by American regulators. "The largest electoral bond donor, at almost Rs 1,400 crore, is Future Gaming and Hotels. It turns out that the son of the owner of Future is a member of the BJP and that the owner himself met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in April 2023 despite facing many CBI cases," Ramesh claimed.

(With agency inputs)