New Delhi: Hours after the Supreme Court on Thursday termed electoral bonds as unconstitutional, leaders cutting across party lines welcome the verdict saying it will uproot corruption from the Indian political system. The left leaders were vocal against electoral bonds policy ever since the Narendra Modi government introduced the scheme in 2018.
“I kept raising the issue when late Arun Jaitely was the finance minister in the Modi government. And with SC’s verdict, I am sure that the directive will go a long way in eradicating corruption,” said D Raja, former MP and national secretary of Communist Party of India (CPI) to ETV Bharat.
Asserting that the ruling parties have been taking the help of electoral bond policy to get funds from top corporates, Raja said political parties will be afraid of taking donations from “backdoor.”
The polit bureau of the CPI (M) hails the historic judgment of the Supreme Court, which has struck down the electoral bonds scheme as unconstitutional.
“By this verdict, this unscrupulous scheme designed to finance the ruling party by anonymous corporate donors has been completely scrapped,” the CPI (M) said. The party had declared at the outset itself that it will not accept electoral bonds as this scheme legalizes corruption. “The CPI (M) had challenged the electoral bonds scheme in the Supreme Court along with other petitioners. It is gratifying that the main contentions set out in the petition against the scheme have been upheld. It is essential now that reforms for political and electoral funding are introduced to ensure transparency, clean funding and a level playing field,” the polit bureau said.
Echoing the same view, former MP and central committee member of CPI (M), Hannan Mollah said that this will uproot the electoral corruption from Indian democracy.
“Although it’s not sure whether this verdict of the Supreme Court will make the Indian political system corruption free, however, this was one of the major sources of corruption. This will be able to stop corruption,” said Mollah.
In a historic judgement, the apex court struck down key amendments which paved the way to the introduction of the electoral bonds scheme in January 2018. The electoral bond scheme introduced money instruments through which companies and individuals in India can donate to political parties anonymously.
The court also directed the State Bank of India, the sole issuer of electoral bonds, to immediately stop its issuance and furnish the details of donations through electoral bonds and the details of the political parties which received the contributions by March 6, 2024. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that his party welcomed the long-awaited verdict which will reinforce the power of votes over notes. “Scrapping of the policy which was introduced by the BJP government to get funding from corporate is hugely welcome,” said Khera.
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