Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi slams Congress for criticising electoral bonds

Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Friday slammed Congress for accusing the Centre of covering up corruption through the introduction of electoral bonds scheme and said that the Congress party never favoured transparency in the electoral process.

"This (Congress) party never supports the idea of transparency in the election process. This is the same party that raised objection over the use of EVMs and other changes. Till how long they will convert their black money into white. Through electoral bonds, an account will be maintained how much each political party is getting legally."

"In my view, it is a positive thing to be introduced in the electoral process. It will strengthen the process," he added.

It should be noted that the Congress party on Thursday gave an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha over "lack of transparency in the entire scheme of electoral bonds".

Yesterday, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad also hit out at the BJP government at the Centre over the electoral bond scheme.

Speaking at a press conference, Azad had said, "To issue electoral bond scheme was a conspiracy. It was based on the premise that the donor who gives money need not disclose his identity. The political party is also not liable to disclose the identity of the donor."

"This scheme was opposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which has stated that this scheme will lead to the encouragement of money laundering," Azad had said.

"In this scheme, it is not disclosed who gives fund to a political party. The money could be donated from a fraudster or even a terrorist," the Congress leader had stated while criticising the electoral bond scheme.

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.