New Delhi: Congress and former Union Minister Kapil Sibal criticized Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that BJP plans to reintroduce the electoral bonds scheme after extensive consultations. Sibal pointed out that the Supreme Court had deemed the scheme unconstitutional.

Jairam Ramesh, another Congress leader, attacked the ruling alliance, stating, "If BJP wins and restores electoral bonds, how much will they loot this time?"

Sibal, also a Member of Parliament, questioned RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat about his stance on the electoral bonds scheme. He stated, "I respect Nirmala Sitharaman a lot. But in an interview, she said that we will bring back electoral bonds and it was also said that when electoral bonds were introduced, they were introduced for the sake of transparency. This is exactly the opposite of what the Supreme Court said. The Supreme Court has said that these are not transparent, they were brought in a non-transparent manner. Now the problem they are facing is that they have money for this election but they know that they will need the money when they lose.... ...I want to ask Mohan Bhagwat why is he silent?"

Jairam Ramesh remarked, "Nirmala Sitharaman has declared that if the BJP returns to power, they will bring back the Electoral Bonds that the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional and illegal. We know that the BJP looted Rs. 4 lakh crore of public money in the #PayPM scam. Now they want to continue the loot. Recall the four methods of #PayPM: 1) Prepaid Bribery - Chanda do, Dhandha Lo, 2) Postpaid Bribery - Theka Do, Rishvat Lo Combinet Cost of Pre-paid and Post-paid Bribes: Rs. 3,8 lakh crores; 3) Post-Raid Bribery - Hafta Vasuli, cost of Post-Raid Bribes: Rs. 1,853 crores; 4) Farzi Companies - Money Laundering, Cost of Farzi Companies: Rs. 419 crores. If they win and restore the Electoral Bonds, how much will they loot this time?"

"This is the most important election of our lifetime. Thankfully, as ground reports make clear, this corrupt brigade is on its way out!" he added.

In an interview with the Hindustan Times, Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the BJP intends to bring back electoral bonds in some form after wide consultations with all stakeholders if it is elected back to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The Supreme Court had struck down the electoral bonds scheme in February this year, deeming it unconstitutional.

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