BJP Is The Main Beneficiary ...": Mallikarjun Kharge On SBI's Electoral Bond Move
Three weeks after the Supreme Court struck down the contentious electoral bond noting its unconstitutionality and lack of transparency, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge today accused the PM Modi government of using the State Bank of India (SBI) to hide its “dubious dealings” through electoral bonds.
SBI today submitted an application to the top Court seeking to extend the deadline to share electoral bond data till June 30. The Supreme Court had asked the SBI to reveal donation details made through electoral bonds by March 6. Moreover, the apex Court had also asked the poll panel to publish the data on its website by March 13.
However, with the SBI requesting to extend the deadline for disclosing the data on electoral bonds, the Congress accused the government of using the largest bank in the country as a shield to hide its dealings through Electoral Bonds.
Taking to his social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Mr Kharge highlighted the Supreme Court directive asking the SBI to furnish donors details by March 6. The Congress leader then alleged that the BJP wants it to be disclosed after the Lok Sabha elections, hinting at the dubious dealings done by the saffron party. “The tenure of this Lok Sabha will end on 16th June and SBI wants to share the data by 30th June,” he wrote.
Stating that the BJP was the main beneficiary of the scheme, Mr Kharge asked if the Modi Government is conveniently hiding the BJP’s “shady dealings” where contracts of highways, ports, airports, power plants etc were handed over to the “Prime Minister’s cronies in lieu of these opaque electoral bonds.”
The Congress president then cited experts saying that the 44,434 automated data entries of donors can be divulged and matched in just 24 hours. “Why does the SBI then need 4 more months, to collate this information,” asked the Congress leader. The Congress MP further said that the government bulldozed every institution including the RBI, Election Commission, Parliament and oppositions to fill BJP’s coffers.
“Now a desperate Modi Govt, clutching on straws, is trying to use SBI to bulldoze the Supreme Court’s judgement!” Mr Kharge added.
Modi Govt is using the largest bank of our country as a shield to hide its dubious dealings through Electoral Bonds.
No less than the Supreme Court of India had struck down Modi Govt’s “Black Money Conversion” scheme of Electoral Bonds, holding it “Unconstitutional”, “Violative…
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) March 5, 2024
