Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Friday, January 25 termed electoral bonds as an “effort to loot the country some more”.
Commenting on the huge income disparity across the country, Yechury said, “Certain ‘netas’ – namely, BJP – are running their huge PR Circus thanks to the anonymous and dark routing of unaccounted wealth through Electoral bonds.”
Certain ‘netas’ – namely, BJP – are running their huge PR Circus thanks to
the anonymous and dark routing of unaccounted wealth through Electoral bonds. This is an effort to loot the country some more. This cannot be allowed to go on. #NoElectoralBonds pic.twitter.com/WcCiNyDcRO— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) January 25, 2019
According to Oxfam Inequality Report 2019, the wealth of the top nine billionaires in India is equivalent to the wealth of the bottom 50 per cent of the population. The report also highlighted that 60 per cent of the population owns a mere 4.8 per cent of the national wealth.
The electoral bonds scheme was introduced by the Modi government in the 2017 Budget, despite objections of the Election Commission, and was notified in January 2018. The bonds are an alternative to cash donations made to political parties. At present, the State Bank of India is authorised to issue and encash the electoral bonds. Corporates and rich individuals usually fund political parties through this route.
In 2017-18, the BJP reportedly benefitted the most from the scheme and bagged 94.5% of the bonds, earning a little over Rs 210 crore.