Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the India Today Conclave on Friday lashed out at the allegations that central agencies were used to extort companies into donating through electoral bonds. Shah asserted that electoral bonds were brought to end the use of black money in politics. He also added that return to cash transactions for donations would result in corruption.
“Do you think the large corporate houses never donated to political parties until now? Where’s the data? Because of electoral bonds, those who donated, their names are out. We brought electoral bonds to end black money in politics. What secrecy are these people (opposition) talking about? They took thousands of crores in donations, did corruption to the tune of Rs 12 lakh crores and are now demanding an explanation from us?” said Shah, hitting out at the allegations of corruption against the central government over electoral bonds.
“I want to ask the people of the country. Before bonds were introduced, where did the political parties get money for elections? Was it black money or white money? The money donated through electoral bonds is white. Companies show in their balance sheets that they have donated money for elections. It is accounted for unlike cash,” Shah added.
Explaining the secrecy of the electoral bonds, Mr Shah said they were kept confidential to dispel fear among donors that they would be harassed by political rivals of a party they had donated money to.
“It was kept secret so that donors are assured that no one can harass them for donating to a particular political party. The electoral bonds reflect on the party’s P&L sheet. It is also reflected in the company’s balance sheet. There is no secrecy about it. It was the earlier cash system where secrecy was needed and caused massive corruption,” Shah further added.
Lambasting the Congress party for running a crooked system of seeking donations for elections, Mr Shah said, “For a long time, Congress party ran a system of accepting cash for political donations. They used to take Rs 1,100 in donations for elections, give Rs 100 to the party and kept Rs 1,000 with themselves. We tried to change that system by bringing in electoral bonds.”