Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the electoral bonds scheme and case were not a setback for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He, however, noted that not every every scheme is perfect.
In an interview with Chnnai-based Thanthi TV on Sunday, PM Modi was asked whether publishing of electoral bonds data caused any embarrassment or setback to the BJP.
Responding to this question, PM Modi said, “Tell me what have we done that we will face a setback? I am sure who are happy about it [releasing details of electoral bonds] today and feeling proud over it are going to repent.”
PM Modi questioned if any agency could share details of expenditures made during the election before 2014.
“I want to ask, there much expenditure in elections before 2014. Which is the agency which can inform – from where the money came, where it was spent and who spent,” he said.
The Prime Minister added, “Modi formed electoral bonds because of which you are able to find out who received the bonds, then they received and who donated them. Initially, we didn’t know about it. You are able to get the trail because we have electoral bonds.”
He, however, noted that “not every arrangement is perfect, there may be imperfections. We can correct these imperfections”.
WATCH PM Modi’s full interview here
Electoral Bonds case
The electoral Bonds scheme, brought by the Centre in 2017, was scrapped by the Supreme Court in February this year. The scheme allowed people to make any amount of donation to political parties of their choice while maintaining anonymity.
Recently, the Election Commission, upon the Supreme Court order, published details of all the donors of the electoral bonds and political parties which received them. The poll body also released the unique numbers or bond numbers which helped public access to make links between the purchaser of the bond and the recipient political party.
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Published: 31 Mar 2024, 10:47 PM IST