Electoral bonds scheme the biggest scam of independent India: Congress

Congress MP and general-secretary Jairam Ramesh on Friday described the electoral bonds scheme as the "biggest scam of independent India", and said the data shared by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on it was "incomplete".

He also said the Congress was not against electronic voting machines (EVMs), but wants the use of voter verifiable paper audit trails (VVPAT) to be included in the poll process to ensure that voters know their vote was cast correctly.

Addressing a press conference at Wada in Maharashtra's Palghar district, Ramesh said his party has been seeking an appointment with the ECI since 2023, but has not been granted an audience yet with the chief election commissioner (CEC). "Why is the ECI scared to meet Opposition parties?" the former Union minister asked.

Referring to the electoral bonds data published on the Election Commission's website, Ramesh said the details were incomplete.

"There are four categories in the list — those who purchased the electoral bonds and got government contracts, those who purchased bonds due to threat of investigating agencies, those who purchased bonds as bribe to get contracts, and purchasing through shell companies," he said.

"This is the biggest scam of independent India. We have the option to move the Supreme Court...We will go to the people's court," he said.
He made the remarks a day after the ECI put up the data on electoral bonds on its website.

From steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal to billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal's Airtel, Anil Agarwal's Vedanta, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, and a lesser-known company — Future Gaming and Hotel Services — were among the prominent buyers of the now-scrapped electoral bonds for making political donations.

The State Bank of India (SBI), which was the authorised seller of electoral bonds, has said in its data that a total of 22,217 electoral bonds of varying denominations were purchased by donors between 1 April, 2019 and 15 February 2024, out of which 22,030 were redeemed by political parties.