SBI Didn't Release 3,346 Bond Details: Congress Demands SC Probe Into "Scam"

Asserting that the buck stops at Prime Minister Modi about the massive electoral bond scam, the Congress on Friday demanded an inquiry by the Supreme Court judge into the massive scandal of electoral bonds that saw the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party pocketing more than fifty percent of overall donations worth over Rs 6,000 crores.

Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru today, the Congress president said that it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi who must be held accountable as he does everything in his name without ever mentioning his party.

He pointed out that while the Congress party’s genuine accounts were frozen and funds blocked, the BJP was amassing huge money by abusing power.

He demanded that till the truth comes out, the BJP’s accounts must be frozen. “This is a sordid saga of decimating Democracy, by looting money through coercion”, he remarked, while demanding an independent enquiry at the highest level and the freezing of BJP’s bank accounts until the truth comes out.

Taking a dig at the Prime Minister’s oft-repeated claims, ‘na khaunga, na khane doonga’, Kharge said that the Supreme Court had completely exposed the BJP and the Prime Minister as how it had amassed huge money by either intimidating people and companies or providing them special favours in a clear case of quid pro quo.

Maintaining that the buck stops at the Prime Minister Modi, Kharge demanded a high-level investigation into the massive scandal. He said, Prime Minister Modi should be held accountable as he always claims it to be him alone who is doing everything without ever mentioning the BJP. So much so, he [Modi] makes it look as if India got freedom only in 2014, Kharge remarked, while pointing out, that the PM does everything in his own name and owns up to everything.

Referring to the figures that came out, he pointed out that while the BJP got more than 50 per cent of the total donations to the tune of a whopping Rs 6,000 crores, the Congress, which is the principal opposition party in the country, got a meagre 11 per cent.

Kharge said that it was more than obvious that those who had massively donated to the BJP were first involved in ED and IT inquiries and raids conducted over their premises forcing them to make heavy donations to the party.

The Congress president asserted that without the intimidating and arm-twisting tactics of the BJP, this much donation could not be possible.

He said it was a strange irony that while the BJP was amassing huge money by abusing power, it had frozen the accounts of the principal opposition parties just on the eve of elections.

Kharge highlighted that the Congress had not intimidated anyone to get the donations but was funded by the workers, MPs, and MLAs whose money the BJP government has now frozen.

Replying to a question, the Congress president said, the next course of action will be decided after consultations with the CWC. "I am not Modi," he remarked while maintaining that unlike Modi he takes along everyone.

Speaking on the occasion, the Congress treasurer, Ajay Maken brought attention to the fact that yesterday, when the list came, it totaled 22,217 bonds issued since 2018, but on the website, there were only 18,871 bonds.

Hinting that something was being hidden, he said, the details of 3,346 bonds are not available on the website as SBI has not provided them.

“Who are the people the Modi government is trying to shield?” he asked, adding that there should be an investigation that should link the IT and ED raids to these bonds. “Most of the companies that donated through electoral bonds have either been raided by the IT or ED and they purchased bonds under pressure from the BJP," he alleged.