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Freeze BJP's bank accounts, conduct special probe into electoral bonds: Congress
Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the Centre pressurised the income tax department to freeze the party's bank accounts.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday urged a special investigation into the electoral bonds scheme and demanded that the BJP's bank accounts should also be frozen till the probe is completed.
Read here: Lottery firm top donor as EC uploads electoral bonds data
Claiming that there were many dubious donors, he said people who have purchased such bonds were either involved in Enforcement Directorate (RD) or Income Tax (I-T) cases or raided by other probe agencies. While the BJP has collected crores of rupees in electoral bonds, the bank account of the Congress, which received donations, was frozen, Kharge said.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Kharge took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asserted that he always said "Yeh Modi ki sarkar, yeh Modi ki party," adding that PM Modi should be held "accountable" for making money out of the bonds.
"The Prime Minister says 'Na khaunga, na khane dunga (Will not eat, will not let others eat)', but today it has been exposed by the Supreme Court how the BJP has made money out of electoral bonds. SBI data shows BJP got 50 per cent donations and Congress got only 11 per cent," he said.
Read here: Electoral bonds: SC issues notice to SBI, says bond numbers not disclosed
The grand old party chief further alleged that the centre pressurised the I-T department to freeze the party's bank accounts which held nearly ₹300 crore ahead of the elections so that it can't be used.
Kharge said, "I-T (Income-Tax department) was instructed to do this and nearly ₹300 crore is frozen." "How can we go to the election? You are collecting crores of rupees through electoral bonds, while Congress got through donations from workers, MPs and other small donors. Our account is closed, their account is open. They got ₹6,000 crore, while others got very little," he said.
"If the opposition party's account is frozen, how will they fight the election," Kharge further asked. "Where is the level playing ground?" "Therefore I demand an inquiry at the highest level and unless the truth comes out, their (BJP) account should also be frozen. A special investigation should be done to find out whether they got money in return for any favours or through harassment or asking for donations for their cases to be closed," he added.
According to the data released by the Election Commission of India on its website on Thursday, the BJP encashed ₹6,060 crore over five years through the electoral bonds scheme.
A total of 1,260 companies and people have bought 22217 bonds worth ₹12,155.51 between 2019 and 2024. 23 political parties have redeemed these bonds, while Future Gaming and Hotel Services and Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd were among the top donors to political parties, the data revealed.
Read here: Electoral bonds: BJP leads in donations, TMC leaves behind Congress
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday took exception to SBI not furnishing numbers on electoral bonds and said that the judgment of the Constitution bench clarified that all details of electoral bonds will be made available including the date of purchase, name of the purchaser, and the denomination.
"SBI has not disclosed the electoral bonds (unique alphanumeric numbers). Court issues notice to the SBI and seek a response by March 18," the top court said.
An electoral bond is an instrument in the nature of a promissory note or bearer bond which can be purchased by any individual, company, firm or association of persons provided the person or body is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. The bonds were issued specifically for the purpose of contribution of funds to political parties.
(With inputs from agencies)
