NEW DELHI, March 15
Senior AAP Leader and Delhi Cabinet Minister Shri Saurabh Bharadwaj today said how the electoral bonds was thrust upon the country by the BJP-led Central government despite opposition from various quarters, including the government agencies, transparency activists and political parties.
Addressing a press conference, the senior AAP leader stated how these bonds were vehemently opposed by everyone, including the Reserve Bank of India and the Ministry of Law and Justice. Despite the opposition, the electoral bond was brought into action. “Despite the opposition by the political parties, including the activist who demanded transparency were against the electoral bond because it was the end of transparency. Now that the Supreme Court has announced that these electoral bonds were illegal, the question arises that which companies were involved in funding the political parties and the party that benefitted the most from it was the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). The BJP led central government made more than ₹6,000 crores with these electoral bonds and it has been proven. Why is the Supreme Court going through so much trouble of demanding documents from the central government, the election commission, the CBI, what is the central government hiding? Why is the Supreme Court struggling for getting the documents? Why is the Solicitor General of the government stopping the Supreme Court in every matter? Their goal is clear. Whether it’s the State Bank of India or the election commission, the central government is pressurizing everyone to hide as much as they can,” he said.
Driving home the point that arm twisting, and quid pro quo took place as some companies raided by the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department later bought electoral bonds. “I would read out a list to you that would make it clear that these big companies made electoral bonds after the ED started raiding on them. Now the question raises that if a company is being raided by the ED, then that money becomes the proceeds of crime. If the ED is raising them, then it is clear that the company is practicing money laundering. The ED doesn’t handle cases of murders or rapes, it only handles the cases related to PMLA and money laundering. If the ED is raiding them, that means that the company was doing money laundering. If the money is being transferred to the BJP through these electoral bonds, then the proceeds of crime were transferred to the BJP. The Supreme Court has recently said that if the proceeds of crime reach the party, then the entire party becomes an accused, that means the BJP will also be a beneficiary in all these proceeds of crime and will be considered amongst the accused parties. Their accounts will be attached, and their properties will be sealed”, he added.
The AAP cabinet minister also added how the company, which is making these electoral bonds, is not a very big name, but it is a future gaming company which bought electoral bonds amounting to a whopping ₹1368 crore. “What is noteworthy is that this happened after the ED raided them on 2nd April 2022, and the company bought the electoral bonds five days later, on 7th April 2022,” he said.
“After this, the MD of Aurobindo Pharma, who was a prime accused in the so-called excise policy scam, was arrested on 10 November 2022 and on 15th November 2022, the company bought the electoral bonds. Shirdi Sai Electricals was also raided by the Income Tax on 20th December 2023, also bought the electoral bonds within 20 days, on 11th January 2024. Torrent Power also bought the electoral bond on 10th January 2024, and they were awarded the 306 Megawatt Solar Project in Maharashtra. It can be a coincidence, but it’s a surprising one.”
Continuing with the names of the companies that were raided and who later bought electoral bonds, Shri Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Dr. Reddy’s property was also raided on 13th November 2023, and four days later on 17th November 2023, they bought the electoral bonds. Kalpatru Project’s property was raided on 4th August 2023, and they bought the electoral bonds on 10th October 2023. Avon Cycles, which was accused of misappropriation in the Parliament, also bought the electoral bonds. Microlabs were raided by the Income Tax Department on 14th July 2022, and they bought the electoral bonds on 10th October 2022. Hero MotoCorp, which was raided by the Income Tax Department on 31st March 2022, bought electoral bonds on 7th October 2022. Versova Sea Link Tender worth ₹9,000 crore, was awarded to a company called APCO Infra on 24th January 2022, and they bought the electoral bonds on 10th January 2022. Yashoda Hospitals was raided on 26th December 2020 and they bought various electoral bonds between April 2021 to October 2023. All of this can be a coincidence but why is the BJP trying to escape? Why is the BJP not informing the Supreme Court about the companies that gave them the electoral bonds? Why does the Supreme Court have to ask this? The party that was after everyone, claiming that they’ll catch everyone who is corrupt. Why is the BJP not forthcoming about this? The SBI will come on Monday and share the alpha-numeric bond number, which they’ve been hiding. The BJP can share all the details about the companies and the transactions. The BJP is hiding all this information and trying to escape,” said the Delhi cabinet minister.
