"Nation paid price for BJP's compulsion to get donations": Congress hits out at Centre over electoral bonds

New Delhi [India], April 4 (ANI): The Congress on Thursday launched another attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) alleging that its compulsion to get donations at all costs saw it go ahead with the electoral bonds scheme without heeding Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) astute advice. In a series of posts on X, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh claimed that more than Rs 430 crore was donated to the ruling party by 33 companies that had negative or near zero profit.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also hit out at the BJP, saying that there are "four primary channels of corruption in the electoral bond scam".
"There are four primary channels of corruption in the #ElectoralBondScam, and with each passing day, more examples emerge to confirm the shocking reality of the corruption which has engulfed this country through Narendra Modi's encouragement. An update on the latest revelations on the "Farzi Companies" who have been donating chanda to the BJP - Chanda Do, Dhandha Lo, Theka Lo, Rishvat Do, Hafta Vasuli and Farzi Companies," the Congress leader said on X.
The Congress MP shared a media report on X which claimed that 33 loss-making firms donated electoral bonds worth Rs 582 crore with 75 per cent going to the BJP.
He further claimed that Rs 434.2 crores was donated to the BJP by thirty-three companies that had negative or near zero profit after tax in aggregate over seven years (2016-17 to 2022-23).
"The aggregate net losses of these 33 companies were over Rs 1 lakh crore. 16 out of these 33 companies paid zero or negative direct taxes in aggregate. It is likely that most of these 33 companies are shell companies built for the purpose of money laundering. Rs 601 crores was donated to the BJP by six companies that had positive net profits in aggregate from 2016-17 to 2022-23, but whose electoral bond donations exceeded their aggregate net profit significantly. These companies were likely acting as fronts for other companies," Jairam Ramesh said.
When the Electoral Bonds Scheme was first floated by the Modi government, the Congress leader said that the RBI raised concerns regarding the high possibility of it being used for money laundering.
"The BJP's compulsion to get chanda at all costs saw it go ahead with this scheme without heeding this astute advice. The nation has paid the price!" he added. (ANI)