Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], March 15 (ANI): Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over electoral bonds and asserted that the PM always said “Yeh Modi ki sarkar, yeh Modi ki party,” adding that PM Modi should be held “accountable” for making money out of the bonds. Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, the Congress chief said that PM Modi says ‘Modi ki Sarkar’, he is the mind behind it all, he should be held accountable for this
“PM Modi said ‘Na khaunga, na khane dunga’; now it is exposed that BJP made money out of electoral bonds. Na khaunga, na kahne dunga, sirf meri party ko khilaunga sab. Whatever PM Modi does, he does it for his own gains, and his party’s gains,” Kharge said. Continuing his attack on PM Modi, Kharge said that the Supreme Court has exposed how BJP made money out of electoral bonds.
“Today it has been exposed by the Supreme Court how BJP made money out of electoral bonds. SBI data shows that donations consist of 50 per cent BJP bonds and only 11 per cent Congress bonds. How can they get this much money? How can such companies give such donations? There are many dubious donors. People who have donated are either involved in ED cases or Income Tax issues. PM Modi and his party pressure these people to give more donations to their party,” he added.
He further alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party instructed the Income Tax department to freeze the accounts of Congress. “Congress party accounts have been frozen. They (BJP) instructed I-T people to do this. Our nearly Rs 300 crores are frozen. How can we go for elections in this? Our accounts are closed but their accounts are open. Where is the level playing ground? I demand an inquiry at the highest level into this. Unless the truth comes out, their accounts should also be frozen,” Kharge said.
In a post on X, Kharge demanded the highest level of enquiry by the Supreme Court to investigate this saga of corruption by the BJP.
The data released by the State Bank of India shows that out of the total Electoral Bonds money collected, the BJP got nearly 50 per cent donation. The principal opposition party, Indian National Congress got only 11 per cent of the funds. “There are many dubious donors. Who are these people? Which companies are these? Why have so many companies donated only after ED, IT and CBI raids? Who exerted the pressure on such companies? We demand the highest level of enquiry by the Hon’ble Supreme Court to investigate this saga of corruption by the BJP. It is quite worrying that while the Bank Accounts of the Congress party have been frozen. However, no action has been taken against the BJP which has illegally acquired crores and crores of money. Therefore, along with an enquiry, we demand that the Bank Accounts of BJP should be frozen with immediate effect due to the illegal nature of the funds received through the Electoral Bonds Scheme,” he posted on X.
The Supreme Court on Friday took exception to SBI not furnishing unique numbers on Electoral Bonds and said that the judgment of the Constitution bench clarified that all details of electoral bonds will be made available including the date of purchase, name of the purchaser, and the denomination. “SBI has not disclosed the electoral bonds (unique alphanumeric numbers). Court issues notice to the SBI and seek a response by March 18,” the top court said.
Most prominent political parties have been beneficiaries of the scheme. They include the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Trinamool Congress, Telugu Desam Party, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Shiv Sena, YSR Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Aam Aadmi Party and Jana Sena Party.
The Election Commission on March 14 uploaded data on electoral bonds on its website as received from SBI. Future Gaming and Hotel Services and Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd were among the top donors to political parties.
According to the data, some of the donors include Finolex Cables Ltd, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, Edelweiss Housing Finance Ltd, GHCL Ltd, Jindal Poly Films Limited, ITC Limited and Vedanta Limited, Grasim Industries Limited PR, Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Limited, Piramal Enterprises Ltd, Muthoot Finance Limited, Pegasus Properties Private Limited, Bajaj Finance Ltd, Bharti Airtel Limited, Apollo Tyres Limited and SpiceJet Limited.
JK Cement Ltd, DLF Commercial Developers Limited, Avon Cycles Ltd, Zydus Healthcare Limited, Cipla Limited, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, Mankind Pharma Limited, Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited, Haldia Energy Limited, Essel Mining and Industry Limited, Western UP Power Transmission Company Limited. Keventer Food Parks Limited, Jindal Steel and Power Limited, BG Shirke Construction Technology Pvt Ltd, Rungta Sons Pvt Ltd and Torrent Power Limited are also among donors, according to the data.
The poll panel issued a press note providing the link on which the data provided by the SBI can be accessed. SBI said that the data has been furnished in respect of bonds purchased and redeemed between April 12, 2019 to February 15, 2024. An electoral bond is an instrument in the nature of a promissory note or bearer bond which can be purchased by any individual, company, firm or association of persons provided the person or body is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. The bonds were issued specifically for the purpose of contribution of funds to political parties.
These bonds were issued/purchased for any value, in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1,00,000, Rs 10,00,000 and Rs 1,00,00,000 from the specified branches of the State Bank of India (SBI). (ANI)
