Congress Alleges Corruption: Electoral Bonds Linked to Government Contracts Worth Crores

On Saturday, the Congress claimed that 38 business entities had donated Rs 2,004 crore through electoral bonds to the Centre and state governments led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in exchange for 179 key contracts valued at Rs 3.8 lakh crore.

This is quid pro quo, extortion, and bribery of three types, according to Congress Communications Chief Jairam Ramesh: "pre-paid," "post-paid," and "post-raid."

He suggested that in order to conduct a Supreme Court-monitored inquiry into all cases of power abuse, extortion, and quid pro quo, a special investigative team (SIT) should be established right now.

In an attempt to change the election conversation, which is now centered on the BJP's "400-plus" and "Modi's guarantee" slogans, Ramesh stated that a court-monitored SIT would be established following the formation of a non-BJP government at the federal level.

He announced the creation of distinct SITs for the PM Cares Fund, which has been exempt from the CAG's jurisdiction and the Right to Information Act despite receiving funding from both private businesses, including Chinese ones, and government departments and personnel.

According to Ramesh, a joint parliamentary committee would be established to look into the purported Modi-Adani relationship, or "Modani" as the Congress refers to it.

Although the purpose of these remarks is to challenge the notion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "invincibility," the Congress also plans to prosecute Modi for corruption.

"Modi created the electoral bond plan himself. Pre-paid, post-paid, and post-raid bribes could all now be sent through the banking channel as election bonds thanks to the opaque arrangement, according to Ramesh.

"This is essentially the Prime Minister who promised to bring back black money, but instead legalized corruption and then made a valiant effort to conceal it."

"A Prime Minister who is unwilling to publicly guarantee MSPs (minimum support prices) to farmers has quietly provided a legal guarantee for bribery and extortion," he continued.

The Congress intends to base its primary election platform on the disclosures on electoral bonds. The projects that are given out in exchange for electoral bonds fall into two types. Within the category of "chanda do, dhanda lo (give money, get business)" donations, or pre-paid bribes, the BJP received Rs 551 crore in exchange for project approvals and contracts worth Rs 1.32 lakh crore from BJP state and federal governments within three months of the donation, according to Ramesh.

"The second category, 'theka lo, rishvat do (take a contract, pay a bribe)' - equivalent to a post-paid bribe - saw BJP governments approve projects totaling Rs 62,000 crore, for which the BJP received Rs 580 crore in post-paid bribes within three months of the approval/contract."

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.