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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday defended the electoral bonds scheme, struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, saying that it was an initiative to end the domination of black money in Indian politics.
Amit Shah, however, added that he respects the Supreme Court verdict. Speaking at the India Today Conclave 2024, Shah said that he fears that the black money will return with the scrapping of electoral bonds. "Electoral Bonds was brought to end the domination of black money in Indian politics, it was brought to eradicate black money... Now the scheme has been scrapped and I fear the return of black money," Shah said. He further said that there should be reforms regarding the electoral bonds, rather than scrapping it. "I believe that rather than scrapping it, there should be reforms, but it does not hold any significance, as the apex court has given its verdict and I respect that," he added. The Union Minister further said that there was no room for secrecy after the electoral bonds scheme was implemented, as the amount was reflected in the bank accounts of both the parties and the donors. Noting that before the scheme was implemented, donations to parties were made through cash, he said that after the scheme was implemented, companies or individuals had to submit a check to the Reserve Bank of India to purchase the bond for donation to parties. "There is a perception that the BJP benefitted from the electoral bonds scheme because it is in power...Rahul Gandhi also said it is the biggest extortion racket in the world. Don't know who writes these things for him...The BJP received around Rs 6,000 crore through electoral bonds. The total bonds (of all parties) amounted to Rs 20,000 crore. So where did the bond for the Rs 14,000 go?" Amit Shah said. He also said that the amount the opposition parties received is disproportionate to the number of seats they have in the Lok Sabha and the number of party members. "The Trinamool Congress encashed bonds worth Rs 1,600 crore, Congress received Rs 1,400 crore, Bharat Rashtra Samithi received Rs 1,200 crore, BJD received Rs 775 crore and DMK received Rs 649 crore. When donations were made through cash transactions, Congress deposit Rs 100 in the party and keep Rs 1,000 in their homes and it continued for a long period of time," he added. 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 denomination. The data released by the State Bank of India shows that out of the total electoral bond 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. 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. (ANI)
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