Opposition parties hail SC verdict on Electoral Bonds as historic

NEW DELHI: With Lok Sabha elections only a couple of months away, all opposition parties were unanimous in hailing the Supreme Court verdict on Thursday that struck down the electoral bonds scheme, saying it was historic and a great victory for transparency.

Welcoming the apex court verdict, the main opposition party Congress which plays a lead role in INDIA bloc said that it will reinforce the power of votes over notes.

The opposition party also said that it hopes that the Modi government will stop resorting to such “mischievous ideas” in the future and listen to the Supreme Court so that democracy, transparency and level-playing field persist.

The SC in a landmark judgement delivered a big blow to the government and annulled the electoral bonds scheme for political funding, saying it violates the Constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression as well as the right to information. In a post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge welcomed the Supreme Court decision and hoped the government will stop resorting to “such mischievous ideas” in the future.

He said the Congress had called the scheme “opaque and undemocratic” when it was launched. Subsequently, in the 2019 manifesto, the Congress promised to scrap the Modi government’s “dubious scheme”.

“We welcome the decision of the Supreme Court today, which has struck down this ‘Black Money Conversion’ scheme of the Modi government, calling it ‘Unconstitutional’.

‘We remember how the Modi Govt, PMO and FM bulldozed every institution - RBI, Election Commission, Parliament and Opposition to fill BJP’s coffers. No wonder, 95 per cent of the funding under this scheme was received by BJP,’ Kharge said.

In his reaction to the verdict, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, ‘Another proof of Narendra Modi’s corrupt policies is in front of you. The BJP had made electoral bonds a medium for taking bribe and commission. Today a stamp has been put on this.’

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on X, ‘The Supreme Court has held the much-touted Electoral Bonds scheme of the Modi Sarkar as violative of both laws passed by Parliament as well as the Constitution of India.’

‘The Modi Sarkar has been inflicting ANYAY upon ANYAY on the Annadatas while privileging the Chandadatas,’ Ramesh said.

Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram described SC order as a great victory for transparency, the right to know and level playing field in elections.

In a post on X, Chidambaram said, ‘The right of the people to know has been placed above all clever legal arguments marshalled to defend the illegal Electoral Bonds Scheme.’

The ruling DMK and the opposition AIADMK in Tamil Nadu hailed the Supreme Court verdict annulling the electoral bonds scheme for political funding.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said the judgment restored democracy and level playing field for all political parties besides ensuring the public to have faith in the system. Welcoming the verdict, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said his AIADMK was the only party that did not receive funds through the scheme. Palaniswami called upon the media to expose all those parties that received hefty sums through the electoral bonds.

Welcoming the SC judgment, the CPI(M), the only political party among the petitioners in the case, said it was an “unscrupulous scheme designed to help the ruling party” and it was now essential to introduce reforms for political and electoral

funding. with agencY inputs