Congress Alleges Electoral Bond Scam: Modi Government Under Scrutiny

The Narendra Modi government's policy allegedly "muddied the waters" of corporate political contributions, and the Congress on Wednesday cited a media report claiming that at least 20 newly registered corporations bought electoral bonds worth around Rs 103 crore.

Jairam Ramesh, general secretary of the Congress, referenced a story published in The Hindu that said that at least 20 newly registered corporations bought poll bonds worth around Rs 103 crore, despite the fact that companies that have been in operation for less than three years are prohibited from making political donations.

Ramesh said that the "electoral bond scam" includes four main corrupt routes, and that the "PayPM Scam" is becoming more complex every day, "confirming the shocking reality of the corruption which has engulfed this country through Narendra Modi's encouragement."

"A report on the 'Farzi Companies' that have been contributing chanda to political parties: 1. Dhandha Lo, Chanda Do. 2. Rishvat Do, Theka Lo 3. Hafta Vasuli 4. Farzi Company (Shell Companies) "In a post on X, the man said.

According to Ramesh, the Hindu's research has shown that at least 20 recently created businesses—which are probably shell corporations—bought Electoral Bonds for around Rs 103 crore.

"This is a clear violation of the regulations prohibiting businesses under three years old from making party donations. This isn't an isolated incident. He said that corporate political contributions were purposefully muddy by the Modi Sarkar's Electoral Bonds Scheme.

According to him, the electoral bond plan eliminated the clause that restricted corporate contributions to 7.5% of their average net earnings over the preceding three years.

It prevented public supervision of contributions by introducing total anonymity for donors. One of the only remaining barriers to stop a flood of political contributions via shell corporations was the ban on businesses that were less than three years old, according to Ramesh.

"This last safeguard was also routinely violated under the Prime Minister's supervision," he said.

As Ramesh noted, the Election Commission of India had issued a warning about the possibility that Electoral Bonds may be used to launder "black money through shell companies" as early as 2017.

He claimed that the RBI has also raised concerns about companies exploiting bearer bonds for the purpose of money laundering.

"The Modi Sarkar disregarded their protests, perhaps in order to maintain Chanda's uninterrupted flow. The RBI's and the ECI's warnings were prescient, which came as no surprise, Ramesh added.

The information was supplied with the election panel on March 12 by the State Bank of India (SBI), the authorized seller of electoral bonds, in accordance with a Supreme Court decision.

Between April 1, 2019, and February 15 of this year, contributors bought 22,217 electoral bonds of various denominations, of which political parties redeemed 22,030, according to the SBI.