Prime Minister Narendra Modi commented on the scrapping of electoral bonds as “regretful” right before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in an interview with the news agency ANI on Monday.
PM Modi highlighted the introduction of electoral bonds in his tenure to fight the use of ‘black money’ and said that he had “never claimed this was an absolute way” to achieve that goal. While commenting on the scrapping of the electoral bond scheme by the Supreme Court in February, he said, “Everyone will regret when there is honest reflection”.
In an hour-long interview, PM Modi claimed that the scrapping of electoral bonds has “completely pushed the country towards black money”.
Data showed that the ruling BJP was the largest beneficiary of the electoral bond scheme, prompting the Opposition parties to allege that the BJP used its influence to coerce funding.
On the decision to scrap the scheme, Modi said: “There has been a discussion in our country for a long time… that black money allows for dangerous games to be played during elections. No one denies that money is spent in elections… My party also spends… All parties and all candidates spend, and this money is taken from the people. I wanted to try something… How can our elections be free from this black money? How can there be transparency for people giving donations? This was a pure thought in my mind.”
“We were looking for a way. We found a small way… never claimed this was absolute,” he said.
PM Modi also told ANI that out of the 3,000 companies that bought electoral bonds, 26 companies are facing actions by the Enforcement Directorate.
The Prime Minister highlighted that among these 26 companies, 16 obtained electoral bonds despite facing legal actions. “Out of these 16 companies, 37 per cent of the funds went to the BJP, while 63 per cent were directed to opposition parties not aligned with the BJP.”
He maintained that the money trail in electoral bonds has come out because of that system. “This is the success story of electoral bonds. There were electoral bonds… so you are getting a (money) trail of which company gave, how much, where. If there were no electoral bonds, how would they have found the details? Whether what happened was good or bad can be an issue of debate,” he told ANI.
“Unconstitutional” electoral bonds
Electoral bonds, introduced in 2017, are anonymous funding made to political parties for their investment. In a historic judgment, the Supreme Court of India on February 15 labelled electoral bonds as “unconstitutional” as they violate citizens’ right to information, impacting free speech and expression.
SC also directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to reveal the data about buyers and beneficiaries of the electoral bonds scheme.
PM rejects Opposition’s claims
During the interview, the Prime Minister firmly rejected allegations from the opposition suggesting that the political system favours the ruling party. The opposition has cited changes such as the new law enabling the government to appoint poll panel officials tasked with ensuring impartial elections.
Additionally, the Prime Minister addressed assertions that the government employs central agencies to target adversaries. He noted that only three per cent of cases initiated by the ED were against political figures.
“Out of all the cases ED has registered, only 3 per cent are against political people while 97% of people are those who have nothing to do with politics. They are either drug mafia or officers who are involved in corruption, against some officers who have created benami assets… 97% of cases are against them, and they have been sent to jail,” he said.