Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the opposition parties of “spreading lies” over the electoral bonds scheme, which has been struck down by the Supreme Court, and said “everyone will regret it when there is an honest reflection”.
In an interview, PM Modi said the electoral bonds scheme was aimed at curbing black money in elections and said the opposition wants to run away after making allegations.
In his first detailed reaction to the electoral bonds scheme, PM Modi, who has been on a hectic campaign for the Lok Sabha polls, said the scheme should also be viewed as a “success story” as it has allowed the trail to show who had made contributions to political parties through the scheme. He also said there is a lot of scope for improvement in the scheme.
Modi said there was debate in Parliament on the electoral bonds scheme when the relevant bill was passed and some of those who are now commenting on it had supported it.
The PM said that of the 3,000 companies that gave donations through the scheme, 26 faced action by probe agencies such as ED. He said of these 26 companies, there were 16 who took electoral bonds when they faced action. “Of these (16 companies) 37 per cent of the amount went to BJP and 63 per cent to opposition parties opposed to BJP.”
Modi said that he has “big plans” for the country upon his return to office after the Lok Sabha elections. “I have big plans…kissi ko darne ki zaroorat nahin hai. My decisions are not made to scare anyone or to diminish anyone. They are made for the overall development of the country,” said PM Modi. PM said that his aim is to increase the speed and the scale of development in the country in my next term.
In his ‘Vision 2047 ‘ for the country, PM Modi says, “This is not just Modi’s vision, the ownership of this vision belongs to the whole country. I don’t want to waste even a minute.”
Refuting the opposition parties’ allegations of “being sent to jail by the BJP government”, Prime Minister Modi said that the maximum number of cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate are against those persons and entities who have no connection with politics.
“How many opposition leaders are in jail? No one tells me. And is this the same opposition leader… who used to run their government? There is fear of sin (paap ka dar hai). What fear does an honest person have? They had put my Home Minister in Jail when I was Chief Minister”, he said.
“The country should understand that political leaders are involved in only 3 percent of the ED cases and 97 per cent of cases are registered against the ones who do not belong to the politics. They are either drug mafia, officers who are involved in corruption, against some of the officers who have created benami assets and they have been sent to jail,” Prime Minister added.
When asked about the lack of a ‘level playing field’ and the alleged influence over agencies like the ED, CBI, and EC, PM Modi said, “Out of these, not a single law ( ED, CBI filing cases) was brought by my government, on the contrary, Election Commission reforms were brought by my Government…Those close to the ‘family’ were made Election Commissioners who later got Rajya Sabha seats and ministries…We (BJP) can’t play at that level.”
