Siddaramaiah calls to scrap electoral bonds for fair polls

The system of electoral bonds must be put to an end, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah demanded in the Assembly on Wednesday.

He was speaking during a special debate on electoral reforms.

“In 2019-20, the electoral bonds given amounted to Rs 3,429 crore. While all parties have received electoral bonds, more than 80% went to the BJP. The Congress received about 9%, while the rest went to other parties. Out of the total amount, Rs 2,606 crore went to BJP,” Siddaramaiah said.

“Also, in the last Lok Sabha election, Rs 60,000 crore were spent, according to reports. This will cross Rs 1 lakh crore by the 2024 elections,” he estimated.

According to Siddaramaiah, electoral bonds are coming from the corporate sector. “The influence of the corporate sector has grown disproportionately over the years. While the assets of 142 corporate companies were Rs 23 lakh crores in 2013, today their assets are Rs 54 lakh crore. The coziness of the administration with corporate bodies must stop and the practice of electoral bonds must also stop,” Siddaramaiah demanded.

In order to have a fair Election Commission at both the national and state levels, Siddaramaiah stressed the need for a collegium for the appointment of the chairperson and the members of these commissions. “At present the appointments are made based on the recommendations of the Union government and the state government at the national and state levels, respectively. Let there be a collegium involving the Chief Justice of India, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in both the Houses. A similar system can be put in place at the state-level too,” he said.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who also took part in the debate, pointed out that the corporate donations and influence have been there for decades. “The magnitude may be more today. But, because of the electoral bonds, you are able to quantify the amount of funds. Earlier, there was no way to know,” he said.

After Bommai finished, Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri adjourned the Assembly sine die.

Check out DH's latest videos: