The BJP on November 21 reacted to Opposition criticism of electoral bonds, terming the financial instruments as a “successful attempt to usher in honest money in politics.”
Union Minister Piyush Goyal who addressed a presser at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi also took on the the Congress for criticising them, saying “the alliance of the defeated and the dejected corrupt politicians” did not want “clean, tax-paid transparent money in elections.”
“Electoral bonds brought in honest money in electoral politics. People who are making baseless allegations against the Union government about electoral bonds have grown used to black money and believe in its use during elections,” he said.
Referring to the Opposition, he said that “in some parties leaders grew rich” while the BJP used political funds for the “right purpose only.” He also asked the Opposition why it did not refuse funds donated to it through these bonds.
He asserted that the government took almost a year to address the concerns of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Election Commission (EC) over the issue of bonds, and expressed confidence that the EC would now be satisfied after “experiencing the transparency and honest money brought into political funding.”
All the information about the electoral bonds, he said, were in the public domain and can be accessed through RTI, dismissing news reports over the matter as “no new revelations.”
To a question about the BJP drawing a huge share of corporate funding, he said it is natural as the saffron party is much bigger than the Congress in its its strength and many organisations also reject the “corrupt ideology” propagated by the opposition party.
The details of electoral bonds, including those of donors and donees, have been deliberately kept away from the public eye so that people can use them to donate to the party of their choice without fearing any harassment, Mr. Goyal said.
“We have ensured that the money going into politics is accounted,” he said, adding that these bonds are non-transferable, can be redeemed only within 15 days and be deposited to only a designated account of political parties.
Only KYC-compliance entities can purchase these bonds, he added. On the Election Commission's recommendation, the Narendra Modi government banned cash donations above ₹2,000, he said.
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