Prime Minister Modi Defends Electoral Bonds
“Electoral bonds allowed you to follow the money’s path. Which business provided it, and how did they provide it? Where did they hand it over? And for that reason, I believe that everyone would regret the Supreme Court’s judgment to do away with electoral bonds when they (the opposition) reflect rationally,” Prime Minister Modi told ANI.
Transparency in Political Funding
In an interview with ANI, Prime Minister Narendra Modi defended the electoral bonds programme, stating that it made the financial trail transparent and that “everyone would regret scrapping it.”
“The use of black money in our nation’s elections has long been discussed as something that has to stop. There is no denying that money is spent during elections. All political parties, including my own, spend money, therefore money must be stolen from the public. I wanted to attempt something to remove this illicit money from the elections. I had a clear idea in my head. We were trying to find a path. He stated, ‘We discovered a tiny route; we never asserted that this was the only way.'”
The Issue of Black Money
He noted that some of the people making comments today had backed the electoral bonds program, which had been the subject of debate in Parliament at the time the relevant statute was approved. He mentioned the government’s move to combat black money, which included the decision to discontinue the 1,000 and 2,000 rupee notes. “These notes were moved in large quantities during the elections. PM Modi stated, ‘We took the action to ensure that black money ends.’ Political parties were previously permitted to receive cash donations up to Rs 20,000, but the Prime Minister decreased that limit to Rs 2,500 because he did not want ‘this cash business’ to continue.”
BJP’s Approach to Political Donations
He stated that the BJP had previously chosen to accept all political donations in the form of checks, but businesspeople had objected, claiming that doing so would allow the government to discover their total political gift amount and “trouble” them. “I recall that the BJP had several issues in the 1990s. Because of this regulation, there was no money. Those that desired to donate lacked the bravery to do so. He said, ‘I knew all of this. Now look, which system has the authority to determine how the money came in and where it went if there was no electoral bond? Electoral bonds have proven to be successful in this instance.’ It’s debatable if the events of the process were beneficial or negative. This too has a great deal of room for development. However, we have totally moved the nation in the direction of black money today,” he remarked.
Opposition and Misconceptions
Modi also denounced the opposition for disseminating false information on electoral bonds, claiming that out of the 3,000 businesses that made donations under the program, 26 were being investigated by watchdog groups like the ED. Of these 26 enterprises, 16 accepted electoral bonds, he claimed. Of these 16, 37% of the proceeds went to the BJP and 63% to opposition groups that opposed the BJP. “An ED raid has occurred. Will the BJP undertake the task of contributing to the opposition? This indicates that 63% of this sum was given to the opposition, and you are accusing us of wrongdoing. Their goal is to keep skirting around and run away.”
Supreme Court Ruling on Electoral Bonds
Electoral bonds, which were introduced in 2018, let people make anonymous contributions to political parties without disclosing their name to the general public. Since then, this approach has been used by parties of all stripes to amass huge amounts of money, which has also grown to be one of their main sources of revenue. A five-judge Supreme Court (SC) constitution bench struck down the Center’s electoral bonds program, which permitted anonymous political funding, declaring it “unconstitutional” in a historic decision rendered on February 15. The court also ordered the Election Commission to disclose information about donors, recipients, and the amount they contributed. “Infringement of the voter’s right to know is not proportionally justified by saying black money is being curbed,” the Supreme Court further stated.
Additionally, the SC ordered banks to cease issuing electoral bonds. It requested that the Election Commission receive a report from the State Bank of India (SBI) about donations made through electoral bonds.
Implications of the Ruling
In order to implement the plan, political parties are no longer required to maintain a record of the identity of donors who make any kind of election bond contribution or to submit this information to the poll authority on an annual basis. This was accomplished by amending Section 29C of The Representation of the People Act, 1951.
