New Delhi: After a Special Court in Bengaluru ordered filing of a First Information Report against Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over allegations of extortion related to electoral bonds, the Congress on Sunday demanded her resignation.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, senior party leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi, along with Jairam Ramesh, said, “The day the electoral bond scam came to the fore, the Congress immediately demanded a Supreme Court-monitored inquiry through an Special Investigation Team and we still demand the same.”
He said a level playing field is vital for a free and fair election and essential for democracy. But electoral bonds attack the very foundation of the basic structure of the Constitution.
While accusing the Finance Minister of undermining the democratic system of the country, Singhvi said, “It is well-known that the Finance Minister cannot do it alone. It is also not in her jurisdiction. There are many number one from the BJP and we know who is instructing.”
He further added, “We hope that through the judicial process, people involved in this corruption will be summoned, their statements will be recorded and, on that basis, they will be arrested”.
Ramesh said that the Supreme Court in February had delivered a verdict terming the electoral bond schemes as “unconstitutional”.
Under pressure from the apex court, the SBI made public the information related to electoral bonds.
He said that the BJP used four ways to extort the money and they were “prepaid bribery, postpaid bribery, post-raid and shell companies”. Adding that till today the shell companies could not be identified.
“Through these four ways, BJP has collected donation worth more than Rs 6,000 crores in five and half years,” Ramesh alleged.
He said that the Congress has been demanding a Supreme Court-monitored inquiry through an SIT as well as a JPC in this matter as this will reveal who has taken the most benefits from the electoral bond.
UNI
