TNCC demands answers from PM Modi on electoral bonds
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K. Selvaperunthagai on Friday said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s warnings about corruption in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had been vindicated by the publication of the electoral bonds data by the Election Commission.
He demanded answers from Mr. Modi and BJP Tamil Nadu president K. Annamalai on the revelations related to the bonds.
Addressing the media, he said that several companies had bought bonds worth much more than their turnover. It disproved the BJP’s claim of having stamped out black money and terror funding through the 2016 demonetisation exercise. “When they went in for demonetisation, they said that they would eliminate black money; but it [the electoral bond details] shows that Mr. Modi and the BJP government are responsible for the proliferation of black money,” he said.
Pointing to instances of companies having allegedly bought the bonds after they were raided by central agencies, he said, “The data show that there was an income tax raid on Yashoda Hospital on December 26, 2022, and the hospital bought the bonds in April 2023. Similarly, there was a raid on Hero Motors on October 7, 2022, and the company bought the bonds on March 31, 2023. So, it is clear that they raid a company and threaten it with cases. Thereafter, the company pays the BJP through electoral bonds, and the cases are not pursued.”
Acknowledging that all parties took money through electoral bonds, he sought to differentiate between the money taken by a party without any condition and the funds extorted from companies through intimidation by central agencies.
“We are opposing the way in which the ED, the CBI and the Income Tax Department have been used to raid, file cases and extort money to ensure that cases are not pursued. Those who have donated to us have done so of their own accord. We protested in front of the State Bank of India demanding that the data be made public. We did not try to delay the publication of the data until after the election, but the BJP did,” he said.