Amit Shah slams Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in interview with New Delhi TV

Reacting to opposition parties’ allegations over the now-defunct electoral bonds system, Union Home Minister Amit Shah today asked the opposition parties if they would also describe the donations they received through bonds as “extortion”.

Shah’s comments in an exclusive interview with New Delhi TV were a sharp response to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who said the electoral bonds system was “the biggest extortion scheme in the world” and called Prime Minister Narender Ra Modi is a “champion of corruption”.

Responding to allegations by opposition parties on the issue in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, Mr Shah said: “Their party has also received donations through bonds. Is this also extortion? Rahul Gandhi must tell the people, yes we They’re getting more donations in proportion to the number of MPs than we’re getting, and they have no problem, so they’re not going to succeed in trying to create chaos.”

In a landmark judgment on February 15, the Supreme Court struck down the electoral bonds scheme on the grounds that it violated citizens’ right to information. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said the scheme was unconstitutional and arbitrary and could lead to quid pro quo between political parties and donors.

The five-judge Constitution bench held that the stated objectives of combating black money and maintaining donor confidentiality did not justify the scheme. The court said electoral bonds are not the only way to curb black money.

Subsequently, data released by the State Bank of India and published by the Election Commission of India showed that the BJP has received the largest amount of funds through these bonds – Rs 6,986.5 crore – since their introduction in 2018. 1,397 crore for the Trinamool Congress and Rs 1,334 crore for the Congress.