Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says- We will bring electoral bonds again; what Congress said

There may be controversy again over the electoral bond scheme. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in an interview that if we come to power, we will bring back the Electoral Bond Scheme. For this, suggestions will first be taken on a large scale.

On the issue of government bringing electoral bonds again, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said how much they will loot this time.

Earlier on February 15, the Supreme Court had banned the Electoral Bond Scheme for political funding with immediate effect. The Supreme Court had said – this scheme is unconstitutional. Maintaining the secrecy of the bond is unconstitutional. This scheme is a violation of the Right to Information.

Congress hits out at the BJP

The Congress on Saturday hit out at the BJP over Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's reported remarks that electoral bonds will be brought back after consultations, alleging that after looting Rs 4 lakh crore of public money, they want to "continue the loot."

In a post on X he wrote, "We know that the BJP looted Rs. 4 lakh crore of public money in the #PayPM scam. Now they want to continue the loot," he alleged.

Ramesh listed what he said were the "four methods of PayPM."

"Prepaid Bribery - Chanda do, Dhandha Lo. Postpaid Bribery - Theka Do, Rishvat Lo. Combined Cost of Pre-paid and Post-paid Bribes: Rs. 3.8 lakh crores," Ramesh said.

"Post-Raid Bribery - Hafta Vasuli. Cost of Post-Raid Bribes: Rs. 1,853 crores. Fake Companies - Money Laundering. Cost of Fake Companies: Rs. 419 crores," he said.

"This is the most important election of our lifetime. Thankfully, as ground reports make clear, this corrupt brigade is on its way out!" the Congress leader asserted.

Kapil Sibal said- I respect Nirmala Sitharaman. In an interview she is saying that she will bring back electoral bonds. She also said that for the first time this scheme was brought keeping transparency in mind. The Supreme Court has said that there was no transparency in this. They (government) brought it in a non-transparent manner. Now the problem is that they have money for this election, but they also know that even if they lose, money will be needed. I want to ask Mohan Bhagwat why he is silent on this issue.