Electoral Bond Issue Won’t Affect Upcoming Elections in India

The Supreme Court of India on 15 February struck down the electoral bond scheme and termed it “unconstitutional”.

The scheme was introduced by the federal government in 2018 as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties to bring transparency to political funding.

However, after the top court’s verdict, opposition parties criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government over the issue, saying that electoral bonds are the biggest scam in the history of the country.

In response, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an interview with a TV channel, said those who are criticising the electoral bonds will regret it.

“Tell me what we have done that I should see it as a setback? I firmly believe that those dancing over it (bond details) and taking pride in it are going to repent”, he told Thanthi TV in an interview when asked if the electoral bond details have resulted in a setback for the ruling BJP.

Sputnik India reached out to political expert Vinod Kumar Shukla to understand whether the opposition is making it one of their campaign issues to counter BJP, and whether it's viable or not.

People Won’t Believe Congress Over Corruption in Electoral Bonds

Talking about the Congress raising the issue of corruption behind electoral bonds, Shukla told Sputnik India that nobody would believe a party that lost the elections because of severe corruption charges.

“Since 2014, when the BJP and Modi came to power, there has been no news about any minister getting involved in corruption. Several welfare schemes have been rolled out for the public, but every scheme is transparent and people believe that the Modi government is working for the benefit of general public”, the political analyst said.

Electoral Bond Issue to Have No Impact on Polls

Sharing his views about the impact of the electoral bond issue on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Shukla said that this will have no impact on the polls, because it is a really difficult issue for the Congress and the entire opposition to make people understand what electoral bonds are.

“Will they be able to make people understand that the BJP has received the maximum benefit from electoral bonds? I am saying this because the BJP got 47 percent of donations, while the opposition parties and other political parties have got 53 percent donations. In such a situation, how will Congress explain to people that the BJP has indulged in corruption”, he opined.

He further said that it is a desperate attempt by the opposition to raise the issue of corruption in electoral bonds to save itself from the wrath of people who have seen action against corruption by the federal government.

“Not only this, but Modi in a TV interview made it very clear that the intention behind introducing electoral bonds was to bring in transparency in political funding. In a very simple way, he communicated to the people of the country that there is no corruption in electoral bonds, rather it was brought to bring in more transparency”, the political expert said.

He also said that one thing Congress and other opposition parties should understand is that people are not ready to believe their prime minister is corrupt, because he has delivered good governance in his two tenures and promised strict action in his third.

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