Why are Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi not attacking electoral bonds like CAA?

The game of electoral bond or electoral donation business has come in front of everyone. After the order of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission has released the data provided by the State Bank of India. According to the Election Commission, BJP is the party taking the most donations. Surprisingly, Trinamool Congress is at second place, while The name of Indian National Congress is at number three. Kapil Sibal has alleged that this is the biggest scam in the country after independence. But the surprising thing is why Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi are showing slowness in making this issue an election issue. The list of those who bought bonds has been put on the website by the Election Commission. Journalists and leaders across the country are attacking the Central Government and PM Narendra Modi regarding this list, but Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi have still not been able to issue any statement. Whereas about 20 hours have passed since the list was released.

1- Rahul-Kejriwal’s laziness on this issue

Arvind Kejriwal, one of the most vocal leaders of the country, seems calm on the dirty business of electoral bonds. He has posted about half a dozen tweets on the social media site Kanshi Ram is paying tribute to Admiral Ramdas and also paying tribute to Sahib Singh Verma but is not saying anything about electoral bonds. It is possible that first you should investigate properly and then speak with preparation. Same is the situation with Rahul Gandhi also. About 3 days ago he had opened his mouth on electoral bonds and held Narendra Modi responsible for it. But meanwhile they are busy in providing justice to women, farmers and laborers. It is obvious that they too have not been able to study the list of electoral bonds that has been released yet. He will have to speak only after making himself safe. It is clear that electoral bonds are not considered worthy of being an issue in the Lok Sabha elections.

2- The public already understands the business of donations.

In fact, the general public already understands that a lot of gambling is done in the name of electoral bonds. Capitalists open their coffers for the party which has more chances of coming to power. Black money has also been spent in large quantities in elections. Now the government has made everything digital. The law of Electoral Bond has been brought so that the amount of cash received illegally can be legalized. The only difference is that earlier it was taken in cash, now it is taken in cheque. Earlier too, capitalists used to give electoral bonds so that they could make policies of their choice. Many things remain the same, but there is so much clarity that now if any constitutional institution asks for a report in this regard, everything will become known. Which was not there before. When the Supreme Court asked to present before the world the accounts of the last five years, SBI handed over all the information to the Election Commission. Earlier all this was being done in cash, so if the Supreme Court then not even the Parliament of the country could get that information. However, there can be no doubt that electoral bonds seem to have been misused extensively. The way Lottery King, accused in the ED raids, has bought bonds or the way Vaccine King has taken decisions on buying bonds and selling vaccines, they only increase the doubt about electoral bonds and the government.

3- There is a lot of variation in the amount of donations received by the parties.

There is a lot of variation in the amount of donations received by the parties. Apart from this, there is a lot of confusion among the people or companies who have bought electoral bonds. The biggest thing that is coming to the fore is that big names are not visible. The eyes of the whole country were searching for the names of Ambani-Adani which were not visible. If you ask a common man, he will say that this cannot happen. It is also true that they should not play any important role in the country’s elections. So should it be believed that the funds have come in the name of shell companies? If such things are there then it is an even more serious matter. Similarly, Congress is ruling in many states but TMC, which is in power in only one state, has received more funds than Congress. Similarly, the amount received by JDU, which is running the government in Bihar for the third consecutive term, seems to be less than that of RJD. Many such unique and surprising things are reducing the seriousness of the electoral bond list among the common people. The public feels that everyone is naked in their hammam.

4-A matter of concern for all political parties

The parties encashing electoral bonds include not only BJP but also Congress, Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party, AIADMK, BRS, Shiv Sena, TDP, YSR Congress, DMK, JDS, NCP, JDU and RJD. From 12 April 2019 to 11 January 2024, Bharatiya Janata Party has received the maximum amount of Rs 6,060 crore. Surprisingly, Trinamool Congress is at second place. It has received donations of Rs 1,609 crore. On the third place is Congress Party which has received donations amounting to Rs 1,421 crore. There is no mention in the list of which company has donated how much to which party. But the Supreme Court has ordered to make this information available also. Hopefully many more secrets will soon be revealed to the public.

The electoral bond dispute can become difficult for all political parties. On one hand, political parties are trying to give it a political colour, but there is confusion among all the parties regarding donations. Perhaps this is the reason why all the parties are scared. Because everyone has spent money by taking donations from unknown sources. ADR had found in its research that there is no information about 82 percent of the total amount received in donations