Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today said the abolition of the Electoral Bonds program would open the gates to black money and all parties should think about developing a better system. In an exclusive interview with NDTV Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia, Mr Gadkari supported the Electoral Bond Scheme that was developed when late Arun Jaitley was the country's finance minister.
“It is a fact that money is needed to participate in elections. Every party needs that,” he told NDTV.
“This plan has been made with the idea that parties would get money through bonds and it will help boost the economy if you want to make it number one,” Gadkari said, pointing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitions in the economic field. What was wrong with that, he wondered.
However, Mr Gadkari stated that he would not comment on a Supreme Court decision and pointed out another disadvantage of a ban. If electoral bonds are banned, money would still come in, just in the form of black money, he said.
“If you don't allow (electoral) bonds, people will consider money as number two. This will happen one way or another,” he said.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had struck down the Electoral Bond Scheme, objecting to the unlimited and secret funding through corporate donations that come with strings attached.
“Political contributors get access… this access leads to policy making… because of the relationship between money and votes. Financial support to political parties can lead to quid pro quo,” Chief Justice of India Chandrachud had said.
Mr Gadkari pointed out that electoral bonds “will be bought by people who are rich”.
“Those rich would be contractors. Or have become big in trade or industry. So it is not correct to link it to that (quid pro quo),” he said.
When it was pointed out that electoral bonds can bring black money into the system, Mr Gadkari said, “How can money that creates growth and generates employment and income be called black money? The problem is money being taken and dumped abroad. elsewhere”.
The Supreme Court had termed the Electoral Bonds scheme unconstitutional and said information about the financing of political parties is essential to make electoral choices as the system tends to shift the country's policies in favor of the donor. While India's election system involves secret ballots, the cloak of anonymity cannot be extended to political donations above the Rs 2,000 threshold, the court said.