Supreme Court verdict on electoral bonds: Congress hopes government will stop resorting to ‘such mischievous ideas’

PTI

New Delhi, February 15

The Congress on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict striking down the electoral bonds scheme, saying it would reinforce the power of votes over notes.

The opposition party said it hoped that the Modi government would stop resorting to such "mischievous ideas" and listen to the Supreme Court so that democracy, transparency and level-playing field persisted.

The Supreme Court in a landmark judgement delivered a big blow to the government and annulled the electoral bonds scheme for political funding, saying it violated 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 would stop resorting to "such mischievous ideas".

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 bulldosed every institution - RBI, Election Commission, Parliament and Opposition to fill BJP's coffers. No wonder, 95% of the funding under this scheme was received by BJP," Kharge said.

"We hope that Modi government will stop resorting to such mischievous ideas in future and listens to the Supreme Court, so that democracy, transparency and level-playing field persists," the Congress chief said.

Reacting 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, "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 long-awaited verdict is hugely welcome and will reinforce the power of votes over notes, he said on X.

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

“We also hope that the Supreme Court will take note that Election Commission has been consistently refusing to even meet political parties on the issue of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). If everything is transparent in the voting process then why this obstinacy?” he said.

Party spokesperson Pawan Khera said at a press conference here that the Congress had been fighting this battle for the last seven years both within Parliament and outside and its stand had been vindicated.

"We welcome the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court," he told reporters.

"We are grateful to the Supreme Court of India. We, as a nation, stand strengthened and encouraged," Khera said, adding, "Today, we stand vindicated." 

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