In a major blow to the Narendra Modi government, the Opposition have turned the heat up on the ruling party after The Quint’s investigation revealed that the Ministry of Finance misled the public by claiming that the identity of donors to political parties via electoral bonds would remain anonymous.
Taking cognisance of the report, the Arun Jaitley-led Ministry of Finance, in its press release issued on 17 April, said, “The electoral bonds have some built-in security features to eliminate chances of forgery or presentation of fake bonds.”
But the Opposition parties aren’t buying what the Modi government is selling.
The Congress tweeted, “Modi Govt’s lies on electoral bond stand exposed”.
In an exclusive interview to The Quint, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav said the BJP-led government simply wants to snoop on donors to Opposition parties through the bonds.
“It is an important issue because if Opposition parties want to know who is donating funds to the ruling party, they will never succeed. But the ruling party will know who all have funded Opposition parties. Maybe by doing this, the ruling party wants to stop election funding to Opposition parties. The Election Commission says that political parties can collect funds. The BJP has made such laws such that they can get huge funds and the Opposition can’t. But Opposition parties aren’t going to worry.”
Senior leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, Ashutosh, tweeted, “Is the government snooping on donors of opposition parties to harass and unleash IT department on them?”
Congress National Secretary and spokesperson Madhu Goud Yakshi called the issue of electoral bonds indicative of a “heavy bias in favour of ruling party”.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called the Modi government “Very 007”.
With these hidden unique serial numbers, the Modi government has made the identities of donors discoverable only to the ruling party, not to the public or opposition parties. Is this transparency?
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