Welcoming the Supreme Court order that struck down the electoral bonds scheme, the Congress on Thursday said it would provide transparency, people’s right to know and a level playing field in elections.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), welcomed the landmark judgment and hoped the government will stop resorting to such “mischievous” ideas in future.
Electoral bonds verdict updates | Supreme Court declares electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional
Mr. Kharge said the Congress had called the scheme “opaque and undemocratic” on the day of its launch and had promised to scrap the “dubious scheme” in its 2019 Lok Sabha manifesto.
“We welcome the decision of the Supreme Court today, which has struck down this ‘Black Money Conversion’ scheme of the Modi government, calling it ‘Unconstitutional’. We remember how the Modi Govt, PMO and FM bulldozed every institution - RBI, Election Commission, Parliament and Opposition to fill BJP’s coffers. No wonder, 95% of the funding under this scheme was received by BJP,” Mr. Kharge said.
The Congress chief added, ”We hope that the Modi government will stop resorting to such mischievous ideas in future and listens to the Supreme Court, so that democracy, transparency and level playing field persist”.
Right to know
Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said the top court’s order had placed people’s right to know above all the clever legal arguments marshalled to defend the “illegal Electoral Bonds Scheme”.
“The judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court is a great victory for transparency, the right to know and, if I may add, level playing field in elections. The Electoral Bonds Scheme violated every principle of equality, fairness, reasonableness and democracy,” Mr. Chidambaram said on X.
He added the fact that the BJP cornered nearly 90% of the donations by corporates and high net worth individuals would be exposed now. “Let the world know who gave money, when the money was given, and to which party it was given,” the former Finance Minister said.
Taking to X, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said, “Another proof of Narendra Modi’s corrupt policies is in front of you. The BJP had made electoral bonds a medium for taking bribe and commission. Today a stamp has been put on this.”
“The long-awaited verdict is hugely welcome and will reinforce the power of votes over notes,” added Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh.
Addressing a press conference, party spokesperson Pawan Khera targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the electoral bond scheme and said the party looked forward to the State Bank of India disclosing all the details of funding received by all political parties.
“With over 95 per cent of all funding having flowed to just one single party through this route since it was introduced, the question that arises is: will the Modi government comply or will it issue another ordinance to try and circumvent the directions of the Supreme Court,” Mr. Khera asked.
“This is a case of corruption by the Prime Minister which was attempted to be covered up legally by bringing a money Bill,” the Congress leader claimed.
