In a firm stance supporting the Centre amidst the barrage of criticism from the Opposition regarding the disclosure of data on electoral bond funding via the official portal of the Election Commission (EC), Acharya Pramod Krishnam, a dismissed Congress leader, questioned whether the opposing parties were insinuating that all 1,300 companies contributing through electoral bonds were ‘thieves’.
In an interview with ANI on Saturday, Acharya Krishnam, who has been consistently criticizing the Congress after his expulsion due to ‘anti-party activities’, remarked, “Donations to political parties are a common occurrence worldwide. Are the Opposition parties implying that the 1,300 companies donating through electoral bonds, contributing to nation-building, are criminals? Are they thieves? Their contributions are now documented and public. The Opposition’s attempt to cast doubt on recorded contributions exposes their malicious intent.”
Strongly rebuking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that the BJP was orchestrating the “largest extortion in the world” through the Electoral Bond Scheme, the ousted leader added, “The entire Opposition is now echoing Rahul-ji’s rhetoric. It’s deeply regrettable.” Acharya Krishnam further suggested that the Opposition was questioning the sincerity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in launching the Electoral Bond Scheme.
“The intentions of Prime Minister Modi are as clear as the waters of Gangotri. The Opposition seeks to tarnish it. Those who plundered the nation for 70 years are now questioning donations. It’s unjust to doubt PM Modi’s sincerity,” the dismissed leader stated. Addressing a press conference on Friday during his ongoing ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, Rahul alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) were no longer independent institutions but tools in the hands of the BJP and RSS to target Opposition figures.
The Election Commission announced on Thursday that it had uploaded the electoral bond data on its website in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directive, as received from the State Bank of India, on a “as is where is basis”. On Friday, the Congress claimed that 60 per cent of the electoral bonds were directed to the BJP, a day after the Election Commission released the electoral bond data provided by the State Bank of India as per the Supreme Court’s instructions.
During the Maharashtra leg of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Jairam Ramesh, Congress’s general secretary in charge of communications, told ANI, “I’ve conducted an analysis of the electoral bonds… The analysis reveals the misuse of electoral bonds. 60 per cent of the electoral bonds were channeled to the BJP. I’ve demonstrated through the analysis how the ED, CBI, and Income Tax have also been misused…”
“The donors were rewarded with contracts and other projects. It’s a collaborative scheme,” alleged the Congress Member of Parliament.