Nirmala Sitharaman reveals intent to revive electoral bonds; Congress accuses BJP of continuing 'loot'
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated on Friday that the BJP plans to reintroduce electoral bonds in a revised form after extensive consultations with all stakeholders if the party regains power in the 2024 general elections. This follows the Supreme Court's decision to annul the controversial political funding scheme in February, acknowledging the need for certain modifications.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, she said,“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."
She added that it was still undecided whether the Union government would pursue a review of the top court's order. “What the current scheme which has been just thrown out by the Supreme Court brought in was transparency. What prevailed earlier was just free-for-all.”
The Congress on Saturday hit out at Sitharaman's reported remarks alleging that after looting Rs 4 lakh crore of public money, they want to "continue the loot. "
In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam 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.
Ramesh listed what he said were the "four methods of PayPM." 1) Prepaid Bribery - Chanda do, Dhandha Lo 2) Postpaid Bribery - Theka Do, Rishvat Lo Combinet Cost of Pre-paid and Post-paid Bribes: Rs. 3,8 lakh crores 3) Post-Raid Bribery - Hafta Vasuli Cost of Post-Raid Bribes: Rs. 1,853 crores 4) Farzi Companies - Money Laundering Cost of Farzi Companies: Rs. 419 crores , If they win and restore the Electoral Bonds, how much will they loot this time?" , Ramesh said.
In February, the Supreme Court ruled against the electoral bonds scheme. The State Bank of India, the authorised seller, released data on electoral bonds as per the court's directive, which was then made public. The Congress claims this data reveals BJP's corrupt practices like quid pro quo and protection of companies donating.