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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday moved towards less opacity in political funding and asked political parties to submit details of funding received through electoral bonds. Political parties have until May 30 to submit the receipts of amounts received and the identity of donors to the Election Commission in sealed covers.
The top court was hearing a set of pleas against the electoral bond scheme introduced by the Centre in 2018. Under the scheme, individuals and corporates can purchase electoral bonds from banks. The bonds can then be donated to political parties who can encash them via the party’s bank account.
Political parties, under the scheme, are under no obligation to disclose the identity of donors to either the Election Commission or any other institution or the public.
Earlier, on Thursday, arguing on behalf of the government Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, said that the voters do not need to know how political parties are funded. “It is not voter’s concern to know where the money comes from. Transparency cannot be looked as a mantra. What is the realities of the country. This is a scheme that will eliminate black money from the election,” he said.
In an unprecedented development, over 150 former armed forces veterans have written to the President (the commander-in-chief of the armed forces), urging him to take steps to ensure that political parties do not use “military, military uniforms or symbols, and any actions by military formations or personnel, for political purposes or to further their political agendas”.
Those who signed the letter, which was also copied to the chief election commissioner, included three former army chiefs and four former navy chiefs.
The letter reads:
“We refer, Sir, to the unusual and completely unacceptable practice of political leaders taking credit for military operations like cross-border strikes, and even going so far as to claim the Armed Forces to be “Modi ji ki Sena”. This is in addition to media pictures of election platforms and campaigns in which party workers are seen wearing military uniforms; and posters and images with pictures of soldiers and especially of Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, displayed.”
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, though, called the letters fake as some of the signatories later denied having consented to the letter. “We in the services have always done what the government in power ordered us. We are an instrument of the state. We are apolitical. Anyone can say anything and then sell it as fake news. I don’t know who this gentleman is who wrote this,” said former army chief SF Rodrigues.
Also read: Veterans Ask President to Urge Parties to Stop Using Military for Political Gains
The long-drawn out saga of the Congress and Aam Aadmi party (AAP) alliance in Delhi appears to have reached its conclusion. The Congress said on Friday that it is ‘compelled’ to contest on its own as AAP wants alliances in other states as well, which the national party did not find agreeable.
Two days ago, the AAP had also said that there was no longer any possibility of an alliance in Delhi as the conditions set by the Congress were such that the AAP could not agree to and would benefit the BJP.
However, the Congress has still left a window of opportunity open. “If they (AAP) are ready for an alliance in Delhi with Congress, we are ready even today,” Congress party’s in-charge for Delhi P.C. Chacko said on Friday.
Also read: #PollVault: BJP Manifesto Emphasises ‘Nationalism’, Promises to Do Away With Article 35A
On the campaign trail, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed rallies in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. He spoke about the decision to extend benefits of the newly launched PM Kisan scheme to all farmers and not just small and marginal farmers, who the scheme is currently restricted to.
In Kerala, the prime minister attacked the Congress and Communist Party on women’s empowerment. “The Communists and Congress have blatant double standards when it comes to women empowerment. The so-called defenders of women rights are the ones at the forefront of defending the brutal and barbaric practice of Triple Talaq. They are trying to make Kerala a laboratory of their mischief. They are insulting sentiments of the people,” Modi said.
Rahul Gandhi called the Congress party’s promise of a minimum income of Rs 72,000 per family, its NYAY scheme, a ‘surgical strike on poverty’. “The central theme of our manifesto is justice ‘NYAY’. We are going to fulfil Modi’s promise. The answer is Rs 72,000 in a year to 20 per cent of poorest families. Five crore families will receive this money and the women of the families will get it. It is a surgical strike on poverty,” he said at a rally in Madurai.
The Congress on Friday also took on Union minister Smriti Irani over change in her educational qualifications between 2004 and 2019. In her 2004 affidavit, Irani had said that she completed her BA in 1996. While in the 2019 affidavit she has said that her highest educational qualification is ‘Part 1 of Bachelor of Commerce from Delhi University in 1994’.
Also read: BA to No Degree, Arts to Commerce: The Shifting Story of Smriti Irani’s Education
“The issue here is that she has lied repeatedly on oath and to the courts. People of India will see through these lies and give a befitting political reply to a serial liar,” said Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi.
In an odd appeal to Muslim voters in her constituency Sultanpur, Maneka Gandhi, said that Muslims should vote for her or not approach her for any work after election, which she, by her own prophecy, will win.
Also read: Maneka Gandhi to Muslims in Sultanpur: ‘Vote for Me or Don’t Come to Me for Work’
“I am winning, but if my victory is without Muslims, I will not feel good, because then there is a bitter feeling. If Muslims come for some work after that, I will think ‘what difference does it make’. Because employment is a negotiation after all, isn’t that right? We are not Mahatma Gandhi’s children to keep giving without getting anything in return,” she said in a video clip that has been circulated on social media.