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Beneficiaries of opacity opposing electoral bonds: BJP

Last Updated 21 November 2019, 18:27 IST

As Congress launched a scathing attack on the government on the electoral bond issue, BJP hit back going back to corruption cases including Bofors and Nagarwala case during the tenure of late former prime ministers Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi.

“There have been cases earlier of prime ministers allegedly accepting suitcases of cash, of various scams including Bofors, Zeep, 2G, Coalgate. In all these, it is the Congress party, which is involved that they will oppose a system, which is cleaning the electoral process from the curse of black money,” Union Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters at a press conference organised in the late evening the BJP headquarters.

Goyal also referred to the 1971 Nagarwala Rs 60-lakh scandal during Indira Gandhi’s regime and Rs 64-crore Bofors scandal during Rajiv’s tenure. He said the electoral bonds introduced by the Modi government was a decisive step that successfully checked the influx of ill-gotten money in the electoral system on which many political parties in past thrived.

Goyal alleged only those who flourished under an opaque unaccountable system, where black money ruled are opposing it now.

“This is the alliance of the defeated and dejected corrupt politicians, who don't want clean money to come in politics. This is the same lobby which raised the bogey of Rafale and their charges were rejected by the Supreme Court,” the BJP leader said dismissing the campaign of the Congress and other Opposition parties on electoral bond.

Goyal also sought to link electoral bonds to the empowerment of the poor and argued “Earlier, donations worth Rs 20,000 was allowed in cash. We changed that to Rs 2,000 so that even poor people could help political parties with cash.

He said any person can donate money after buying bonds from the bank via his clean, hard-earned money. Rubbishing allegations of corruption, Goyal claimed that the government has added in-built security features to ensure forgery doesn't take place.

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(Published 21 November 2019, 18:16 IST)

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