Last Updated: March 20, 2024, 13:21 IST
Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the Rising Bharat Summit. (News18)
The Union home minister said while BJP believed in a system of transparency, if INDIA bloc felt electoral bonds was ‘hafta vasooli’, they must explain the funds they received via the scheme
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is of the opinion that the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down electoral bonds will bring back the reign of black money in politics.
Speaking at CNN-News18’s Rising Bharat Summit, Shah said: “The Supreme Court’s decision is binding on all citizens and I respect their verdict on electoral bonds. But my personal opinion is that bonds had almost ended black money in politics. This is why the entire INDIA bloc led by Rahul Gandhi was against the bonds and they wanted the old system of cut money to rule over politics once again.”
Explaining the rationale behind the charge, he said: “Earlier, donations would come in cash. So suppose a person gave Rs 1,500, then Rs 100 would go to the party fund and the rest would go in the party leader’s pocket. Once bonds came, this entire amount would be transferred to the party fund via cheque. This is not what the INDIA bloc was used to. They didn’t care if money was spent on party’s works or elections but their generations should live well.”
The home minister also said BJP believed in a system of transparency. “In 2014, BJP got 81 per cent donations in cash wherein the donor was not known. In 2018, this number dipped to 17 per cent. In 2023, it was only 3 per cent. So far as confidentiality is concerned, we have a federal structure and wanted to avoid a situation where a state government becomes vindictive towards someone who doesn’t give funds to them. So, the confidentiality clause was introduced. We believe in being transparent.”
Rubbishing the charge that the party had amassed huge funds via bonds, Shah said: “We have been accused that we got a lot of money via bonds but so did the INDIA bloc. We have 303 seats, 17 governments, party units in every state. In 2019, we got a sizeable proportion of funds in bonds when the Model Code of Conduct was in place and no new schemes or policies could be announced. We got more than ninety per cent of funds in bonds after the MCC was imposed. So the argument that it was affecting government’s policies is false.”
Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi, who had termed the bonds as ‘hafta vasooli’, Shah said: “Gandhi also got Rs 1,600 crore. He should explain where he got that ‘hafta vasooli’ from. We say it is transparent donation but if he says it is vasooli, he should give details.”
Asked if the BJP would declare the list of donors like some parties had, Shah said: “I am telling you that once the details are declared, INDIA camp will not be able to show its face. Gandhi just reads out speeches from what people write for him. He doesn’t know he has shot himself in the foot.”
The Supreme Court of India struck down the electoral bond scheme on February 15, 2024, calling it “unconstitutional “. The court said the scheme violates the right to information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution by making anonymous donations to political parties. The court also said that the scheme allows political parties to coerce people to contribute, and that it’s “unconstitutional, not fool-proof”.