Cong slams BJP over Sitharaman’s remarks on electoral bond
Statesman | 21 April 2024
The Congress on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the BJP over Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remarks on electoral bonds, and said the ruling party wants to continue the “loot”.
Referring to the Union Minister’s remarks on electoral bonds to a national daily, Congress General Secretary in-charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh in a post on X wrote, “Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has declared that if the BJP returns to power, they will bring back the Electoral Bonds that the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional and illegal. We know that the BJP looted Rs 4 lakh crore of public money in the PayPM scam. Now they want to continue the loot.”
“Recall the four methods of PayPM: Prepaid Bribery – Chanda do, Dhandha Lo. Postpaid Bribery – Theka Do, Rishvat Lo. Combinet Cost of Pre-paid and Post-paid Bribes: Rs 3,8 lakh crores. Post-Raid Bribery – Hafta Vasuli. Cost of Post-Raid Bribes: Rs 1,853 crore. Farzi Companies – Money Laundering. Cost of Farzi Companies: Rs 419 crore. If they win and restore the Electoral Bonds, how much will they loot this time?,” he said.
Ramesh, who is the Congress MP in Rajya Sabha further said, “This is the most important election of our lifetime. Thankfully, as ground reports make clear, this corrupt brigade is on its way out.”
The parliamentarian along with his post on X also shared the report of a national daily which quoted Sitharaman as saying “BJP intends to bring back electoral bonds in some form after consultations with all stakeholders if it is elected to power in 2024 Lok Sabha elections”.
It may be mentioned that in February the Supreme Court struck down the electoral bonds scheme.