Nirmala Sitharaman reveals intent to revive electoral bonds; Congress accuses BJP of continuing ‘loot’

The Congress on Saturday hit out at Sitharaman’s reported remarks alleging that after looting Rs 4 lakh crore of public money, they want to “continue the loot. “

In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has declared that if the BJP returns to power, they will bring back the Electoral Bonds that the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional and illegal!” “We know that the BJP looted Rs.4 lakh crore of public money in the #PayPM scam. Now they want to continue the loot,” he alleged.

Ramesh listed what he said were the “four methods of PayPM.” 1) Prepaid Bribery – Chanda do, Dhandha Lo 2) Postpaid Bribery – Theka Do, Rishvat Lo Combinet Cost of Pre-paid and Post-paid Bribes: Rs. 3,8 lakh crores 3) Post-Raid Bribery – Hafta Vasuli Cost of Post-Raid Bribes: Rs. 1,853 crores 4) Farzi Companies – Money Laundering Cost of Farzi Companies: Rs. 419 crores , If they win and restore the Electoral Bonds, how much will they loot this time?” , Ramesh said.

In February, the Supreme Court ruled against the electoral bonds scheme. The State Bank of India, the authorised seller, released data on electoral bonds as per the court’s directive, which was then made public. The Congress claims this data reveals BJP’s corrupt practices like quid pro quo and protection of companies donating.