Since the introduction of the scheme by late finance minister Arun Jaitley, electoral bonds worth Rs 6,000 crore have been sold so far
New Delhi: On Thursday the opposition Congress raised in Lok Sabha the issue of electoral bonds, saying it has made corruption “official”.The opposition Congress has protested in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha demanded that the government should disclose all details about electoral bonds, alleging that the scheme resulted in money laundering and broke transparency in the funding of all political parties.
Congress leader Manish Tewari raised the issue of electoral bond in Zero Hour and said despite reservations expressed by the Reserve Bank of India and the Election Commission, the government went ahead with the scheme. Congress MPs later on walked out of proceedings in Lok Sabha.
Under the electoral bonds scheme, the government has offered complete anonymity to those making donations. A donor could now anonymously buy a bond and deposit it with the political party of its choice.
“Firstly, the scheme was limited to the Lok Sabha elections. But before the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, the PMO had floated a request for the window to be opened for electoral bonds,” he told Parliament and said corruption is being covered up through the scheme.
After the Congress demanded that the issue be discussed at length, Rajya Sabha chairman adjourned the house and said the notices for discussion do not warrant suspension of other businesses to take this up on priority. In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla said the issue can be raised in the Zero Hour after the Congress staged protests in the Well of the House.
Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, said the issue of electoral bonds needs immediately taken into consideration and called electoral bonds a “scam”. The Congress has demanded that the government disclose all details about electoral bonds before Parliament, including details of donors and who received the funds.
Since the introduction of the scheme by late finance minister Arun Jaitley, electoral bonds worth Rs 6,000 crore have been sold so far. According to data the first tranche of Rs 222 crore, 95 percent of the funds had gone to the ruling BJP, by the Association for Democratic Reforms.
The RTI cited with the reply, the Congress said the finance ministry had sought the RBI’s nod for the scheme just days before the unveiling and dismissed reservations about the possibility of money laundering and it undermining confidence in Indian banknotes.
Senior Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor said when electoral bonds were introduced, “We have raised serious objections about how it could easily become a way for rich corporations and individuals to influence improperly political parties, especially the ruling party.”
Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the electoral bonds resulted in money laundering, and the trail of it “leads straight to the PM’s office”. “The BJP government is running 90 percent of the business in India with a few industrialists,”.
Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said, “The intrigue and the conspiracy have now indicted the prime minister Modi himself. RTI documents now establish the role and indict none less than the prime minister himself.”
“Government’s promise was to bring black money back from offshore accounts, but reverse if that is happening,” Surjewala added.
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