Electoral bond route to finance ruling party, scrap it: CPI-M

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Friday demanded the scrapping of the electoral bond scheme, saying that it was a route to 'finance' the ruling party.

The party's politburo said in a statement that the electoral bond was the legalisation of 'political corruption.'

"The recent exposures on how the electoral bond scheme was a route to finance the ruling party has once again established that such legalisation of political corruption must end," the statement said.

"The PMO has been directing the Finance Ministry to instruct the State Bank of India to flout the ministry's own laid down rules to permit the realisation of expired bonds to facilitate its horse-trading in the post-Karnataka assembly election situation that resulted in a hung assembly," added the statement.

The party said that the electoral bonds must be scrapped immediately in the interests of Indian democracy and the sanctity of our election.

The Congress has also demanded to scrap of electoral bonds, saying the government had not heeded to reservations of the Reserve Bank of India and the Election Commission.