Congress MPs protest over electoral bonds in LS, Speaker says 'no member should speak from Well of House'

Congress MPs in Lok Sabha on Thursday protested on the issue of electoral bonds during question hour but were asked by Speaker Om Birla to take their seats and raise the issue during zero hour.

The members started the protest soon after the Lower House of Parliament met for the day.

The Speaker asked the MPs to resume their seats and said that the question hour was important as all members of the House want to raise their issues.

He also stated that no member should speak to the Chair from the Well of the House.

The Speaker further stated that he was a new member of the House and wants to maintain its dignity. "I will give you opportunity after question hour," he told Congress members.

Responding to Speaker, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury stated that the issue was serious and they had given an adjournment notice."There is loot through electoral bonds. It is a big scam," Chowdhury alleged.

Referring to treasury benches, the Congress leader said they had not allowed House to function when they were in opposition and had made allegations against the UPA government over coal block allocations.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi also commented and stated that the BJP had made corruption allegations against UPA government when it was in opposition as there were CAG findings and Supreme Court verdict. "There is no issue of corruption against the government."

Electoral bonds may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. A person being an individual can buy electoral bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals.

Only the political parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and which secured not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last general election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of the state shall be eligible to receive the electoral bonds.

The bonds shall be encashed by an eligible political party only through a bank account with the authorised bank.