Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted those who oppose electoral bonds will soon rue their criticism. In an interview to a news channel in Tamil Nadu, the PM insisted the now-defunct scheme actually provided transparency by detailing the sources of funding for political parties.
“People who are protesting against electoral bonds will soon regret it. Before 2014, there was no trail of funds given to political parties during elections. I introduced the electoral bonds. Thanks to the electoral bonds, we can now trace the source of funding,” he stated.
PM Modi’s remarks come in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on February 15, which declared the electoral bond scheme unconstitutional and mandated the disclosure of all bond transactions since April 2019 by the State Bank of India and the Election Commission of India.
While addressing the severed ties between the BJP and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, PM Modi attributed the fallout to AIADMK’s loss rather than BJP’s, suggesting that those disrupting the legacy of AIADMK’s late leader, J Jayalalithaa, should be the ones regretting.
“Our friendship was strong. If there is any regret, it should be from the AIADMK side, not the BJP,” he expressed.
Furthermore, PM Modi stated his focus is not solely on electoral gains, as evidenced by his commitment to the development of the Northeastern region.
“If merely winning elections was my goal, I would not have worked for the development of the Northeast. I have visited Northeastern States more than all of the former prime ministers combined,” he asserted.
