The Aryavarth Express
Agency(New Delhi): On Friday, Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister, categorically dismissed the notion that there exists any connection between the operations of investigative bodies, such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids, and the electoral contributions to the governing party, describing these suggestions as mere conjecture. “Consider the possibility that these corporations donated funds, and despite that, we proceeded to initiate ED investigations. Isn’t that conceivable? It’s speculative to assume that the ED’s intervention prompted these entities to donate in an attempt to safeguard themselves. Another supposition is whether it’s confirmed that their donations were exclusively to the BJP. What if the contributions were directed towards regional parties instead?” she elucidated during her address at the India Today Conclave.
These remarks from the finance minister were made following the Election Commission of India’s disclosure of a list indicating the recipients of electoral bonds and the funds garnered by various political factions. This disclosure, mandated by the Supreme Court’s order, saw the State Bank of India, the entity responsible for issuing electoral bonds, releasing the list.
Sitharaman highlighted that although the Supreme Court has declared a previously employed political funding mechanism as ‘unconstitutional,’ it was a step forward in enhancing transparency, albeit not perfect. She emphasized the need to derive lessons from this episode to ensure progressively greater transparency in political funding systems in the future. Reflecting on the tenure of her predecessor, Arun Jaitley, under whose administration the electoral bond scheme was launched, she recalled his acknowledgment of the system’s imperfections but noted it as an improvement over previous methods. She asserted that funds received through this channel were legitimate, marking a transition from a largely unregulated framework to a somewhat improved, albeit not flawless, system.
Looking ahead, Sitharaman deliberated on the implications of reverting to traditional funding methods such as cash or checks in the absence of the electoral bond scheme. She posed questions regarding the legal framework that would govern corporate contributions to political parties, underscoring the necessity to avoid funding from dubious sources or financially unstable companies. This discussion arises in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on February 15 to annul the government’s electoral bond scheme, which was introduced as a means to anonymize political donations, citing its unconstitutionality and demanding the disclosure of contributions. Introduced on January 2, 2018, electoral bonds were proposed as an alternative to cash donations, aiming to increase transparency in political financing, with the first sale of these bonds occurring in March 2018.