Congress leader Kapil Sibal has criticised Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) intended to reintroduce electoral bonds.
The BJP intended to bring back electoral bonds in some form after consultation with all stakeholders if the party comes back to power in the 2024 general elections, Sitharaman told a newspaper. What electoral bonds brought in was transparency. What prevailed earlier was just free-for-all. We still have a lot of consultation to do with stakeholders. We have to see what we have to do to make or bring in a framework that will be acceptable to all, primarily retain the level of transparency and remove black money from the equation, Sitharaman said in an interview with a newspaper.
She also said that it has not yet been decided whether the Union government will seek a review of the Supreme Court verdict scrapping the scheme. Sibal, however, pointed out that the Supreme Court had, while scrapping the scheme, termed it unconstitutional.
On February 15, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court scrapped the Centres 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. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also hit out at the BJP over the restoration of the electoral bond scheme. We know that the BJP looted Rs4 lakh crore of public money in the #PayPM scam.... if they win and restore the electoral bonds, how much will they loot this time? he asked.
Nirmala Sitharaman has said in an interview that we will bring back electoral bonds and it was also said in the interview that when electoral bonds were introduced, they were introduced for the sake of transparency.
This is exactly the opposite of what the Supreme Court stated, Sibal said at a press conference. The Supreme Court has said that these were brought in a non transparent manner, he pointed out.
The problem they (BJP) are facing is that they have money for this election but they know that they will need the money when they lose. However, Nirmala ji is saying (they) will win and bring it (electoral bonds scheme) back, Sibal said.
The Congress leader asked why Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagat is silent on the matter. Sibal also said it was wrong for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defend the electoral bonds during polls, especially as the Supreme Court had given its decision.
