‘Full respect for Supreme Court order on electoral bonds, but…’: Amit Shah

Amit Shah said the BJP has received around Rs 6,000 crore.

New Delhi:

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said he fully respected the Supreme Court’s order on electoral bonds, saying the scheme was introduced to end black money in politics, adding that the scheme should be improved and not scrapped.

Mr. Shah also said that “One Nation, One Election” is a philosophy of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi which, if implemented, will ensure faster development and end recurrent expenditure.

“Electoral bonds were introduced to end the influence of black money in Indian politics. Everyone has to accept the decision of the Supreme Court. I fully respect the decision of the Supreme Court. But I feel that rather than abolishing electoral bonds completely, it has been improved,” he said at a Said during the interaction India Today Conclave.

Talking about the Congress, the Home Minister said that opposition leaders used to accept cash political donations as out of a donation of Rs 1,100, they deposited Rs 100 in the name of the party and kept Rs 1,000 in their own names. pocket.

“The Congress party has been running this system for many years,” he said.

Mr Shah said the electoral bonds were said to benefit the BJP and Rahul Gandhi had issued a statement calling it the biggest extortion racket.

“I want to make my stand clear. Out of the total electoral bonds of Rs 20,000 crore, the BJP got around Rs 6,000 crore. Where did the rest of the bonds go? The TMC got Rs 1,600 crore and the Congress got Rs 1,400 Of this, BRS got Rs 1,200 crore, BJD got Rs 750 crore and DMK got Rs 639 crore.

“Despite having 303 MPs, we got Rs 6,000 crore and the rest, against 242 MPs, got Rs 14,000 crore. What is the fuss about? I can say that once the accounts are settled, they will Can’t face all of you,” he said.

Talking about the ‘one nation, one election’ proposal, Shah said that as elections are held multiple times across the country, a lot of money needs to be spent on polling.

On top of that, development work has come to a standstill due to the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct, which has adversely affected government decision-making, he said.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP support the idea of ​​one-nation-one-election elections in a country where the country holds elections again and again and the people are busy with elections, which results in duplication of spending.

“A lot of development work has been stopped because of the model code of conduct. One country, one election is the solution to this problem,” he said.

Asked about the seat-sharing talks in Bihar, the home minister said everything will be sorted out next week.

“Everyone is united in the NDA in Bihar and this time the NDA will win all the seats in Bihar under the leadership of the BJP,” he said.

Commenting on Delhi where Congress and AAP have joined forces to vote, he said the BJP, which had secured more than 50 per cent votes in all seats in Delhi in the last two Lok Sabha polls, will increase its vote share this year.

“What they do in the remaining 49 percent is the least of our concerns,” he said.

Mr. Shah reiterated Prime Minister Modi’s statement that the BJP would get over 370 seats and the NDA over 400 seats.

“We have a 10-year track record and an agenda for the next 25 years. It is an agenda to create a great India and that is why the public trusts us,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)