Modi lauds electoral bond scheme, describes its scrapping as a mistake
PM accuses Opposition of spreading lies about the scheme, which, he says, was brought to free elections of black money; claims the ED contributed significantly towards tackling corruption by seizing more money than ever in the last 10 years
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the country had been pushed towards black money in elections after the Supreme Court scrapped the electoral bonds scheme, and that upon honest reflection, “everyone will regret it”.
In his first detailed take on the electoral bonds scheme after it was scrapped, Mr. Modi, in an interview to the news agency ANI, said that the scheme should also be viewed as a success story as it had shown who made contributions to political parties.
He said there was a lot of scope for improvement in the scheme. “There has been a discussion in our country for a long time that [through] black money a dangerous game is there in elections. I wanted that we try something, how can our elections be free from this black money, how can there be transparency? There was a pure thought in my mind. We were looking for a way. We found a small way, we never claimed that this was the absolute way,” he said.
“Whether what happened in the process was good or bad can be an issue of debate, I never say that there is no shortcoming in decisionmaking. We learn after discussing and improve. There is a lot of scope of improvement in this also. But today we have completely pushed the country towards black money, hence I say everyone will regret it. When they will think honestly, everyone will regret it,” he said.
The Prime Minister took on the Opposition accusing it of spreading lies over electoral bonds, and said that of the 3,000 companies that gave donations through the scheme, 26 faced action by probe agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Of these 26 companies, there were 16 that bought electoral bonds when they faced action, he said. “Of these [16 companies] 37% of the amount went to the BJP and 63% to parties opposed to BJP,” he said.
Mr. Modi also denied allegations by the Opposition that there was a lack of a levelplaying field, and said that laws regarding the institutions were formed before his tenure, and that the Opposition was only trying to find an excuse for its impending defeat.
Highlighting that only 3% of cases filed by the ED — which the Opposition parties said was being used by the Modi government to target them — were against persons involved in politics, Mr. Modi said a much higher amount of cash had been seized by the agency in the past 10 years than ever before.
‘Fear of sin’
“How many Opposition leaders are in jail? No one tells me. And is this the same Opposition leader... who used to run their government? There is fear of sin [paap ka dar hai]. What fear does an honest person have? They had put my Home Minister in jail when I was Chief Minister,” he said.
He lauded the ED and said that since he had taken charge at the Centre in 2014, the Central agency had significantly contributed towards tackling corruption.
He said corruption had destroyed the country and it had to be tackled with full might. “We should fight against corruption with our full strength. And this is my personal conviction,” he said.
With regard to the Election Commission, he said that it was in fact under his government that a law “improving” the process of appointing Election Commissioners by a threemember committee that included the Leader of the Opposition was cleared. “We at least have members from the Opposition in the committee. Earlier, those close to the ‘family’ were made Election Commissioners who later got Rajya Sabha seats and Ministries. We [BJP] can’t play at that level,” he said.
Mr. Modi also questioned the “compulsion” of the Congress in allying with the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu whose leaders had made objectionable remarks on Sanatana Dharma.
“This should be asked of Congress — the same Congress with which Mahatma Gandhi had associated himself once upon a time; the same Congress whose Indira Gandhi publiclly wore Rudraksha Maala round her neck. The Congress should be asked what is its compulsion to sit with people who are spewing such venom against Sanatana?” he asked.
Mr. Modi added that five generations of the Jan Sangh (the BJP’s previous avatar) and the BJP had worked in Tamil Nadu. “Just as people disappointed with the Congress moved towards regional parties, now people are disappointed with these parties. In this atmosphere of disappointment, they saw the model of the BJP government in Delhi,” he said.