Responding to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's reference to electoral bonds as hafta vasooli, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on Wednesday said that Gandhi needs to clarify where he obtained Rs 1,600 crore termed as 'hafta vasooli'.
"Rahul Gandhi also received Rs 1,600 crore. He should clarify where he got that hafta vasooli from. We assert that it's a transparent donation, but if he labels it as vasooli, he should provide details," Shah said in a video posted on his X account.
When asked if the BJP would disclose their donor list like some other parties, Shah responded, "I assure you, once the details are out, the INDIA alliance will find it hard to face the public."
"Electoral bonds were introduced to end the domination of black money in Indian politics, they were brought to eradicate black money... Now the scheme has been scrapped and I fear the return of black money," Shah said.
He further stated that there should be reforms regarding the electoral bonds, rather than scrapping it.
"I believe that rather than scrapping it, there should be reforms, but it does not hold any significance, as the apex court has given its verdict and I respect that," he added.
"But my personal opinion is that bonds had almost ended black money in politics. This is why the entire INDIA bloc, led by Rahul Gandhi, was against the bonds and they wanted the old system of cut money to rule over politics once again," the senior BJP leader said.
The Supreme Court in a landmark verdict on February 15 scrapped the Centre's electoral bonds scheme that allowed anonymous political funding, calling it 'unconstitutional' and ordered disclosure by the EC of donors, the amount donated by them and recipients.
Following a Supreme Court directive, the State Bank of India (SBI), which was the authorised seller of electoral bonds, shared the data with the poll panel on March 12.
The SBI said a total of 22,217 electoral bonds of varying denominations were purchased by donors between April 1, 2019, and February 15 this year, out of which 22,030 were redeemed by political parties.
The electoral bonds scheme was introduced on January 2, 2018.
Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency to political funding.
The first sale of electoral bonds took place in March 2018.
Electoral bonds were to be redeemed exclusively by an eligible political party through an authorised bank account, and the SBI is the sole authorised bank for issuing these bonds.
Electoral bonds were encashed by an eligible political party only through a bank account with the authorised bank.
Electoral bonds were purchased by Indian citizens or entities incorporated or established in the country.
Registered political parties that had secured not less than 1 per cent of the votes polled in last Lok Sabha or legislative assembly elections were eligible to receive funding through electoral bonds.
