Congress Says Electoral Bonds Should Be Scrapped, BJP Should Answer

Congress leader Rajeev Gowda on Monday accused the Narendra Modi government of corruption as he laid out contents of an exclusive HuffPost India report on electoral bonds. 

Gowda held a press conference on the report at the Congress headquarters, along with party leader Pawan Khera.

Gowda said, “Think about who actually controls this information (who bought electoral bonds). The only party that will know who contributed and to whom will be the Central govt. The central government has the instrument to extort money.”

For the latest news and more, follow HuffPost India on Twitter , Facebook , and subscribe to our newsletter .

Gowda called electoral bonds an “elaborate charade aimed at hiding how black money is being converted to white.”

“It aims to stop us from knowing who is contributing to the coffers of the BJP,” he said.

“Congress has received about Rs 500 crores in electoral bonds, rest of the Rs 6000 crores has gone to BJP,” Gowda said.

He also added that the government brought the provision in through a Finance Bill in the Rajya Sabha, where the Upper House of the Parliament could comment but not amend it.

“This shows you the fraudulent methods used by BJP to hide its methods of extortion,” Gowda said.

“BJP must reveal who bought these bonds. We demand BJP explaining what policy favours, including selling public assets, have taken place for electoral bonds. We demand scrapping of EBs. An inquiry is needed into how this was passed,” he said.

Gowda said the Congress would raise this issue in the winter session of the Parliament, which began on Monday.