Ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections, while addressing the press conference he said that India is known for democratic policies and principles It is essential for a democracy that elections are conducted impartially and a level playing ground is provided to all political parties. It should not be that ED, I-T, and other autonomous bodies are controlled.
While addressing the Electoral bonds case Kharge stated that, after intervention by SC, the facts about electoral bonds that have emerged have hurt the image of the country. in the last 70 years, we have created an Image of a healthy democracy that has now been questioned.
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Sonia Gandhi accuses PM of undermining Congress finances.
This issue affects not just Congress, it impacts our democracy itself most fundamentally. A systematic effort is underway by the Prime Minister to cripple the Indian National Congress financially. Funds collected from the public are being frozen and money from our accounts is being taken away forcibly. However, even under these most challenging circumstances, we are doing our very best to maintain the effectiveness of our election campaign. On one hand, there is the Electoral Bond issue which has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Electoral Bonds benefitted the BJP hugely. On the other hand, the finances of the principal opposition party - the INC - are under a determined assault. This, we all believe, is unprecedented and undemocratic.
Idea that India is Democratic is lie Rahul Gandhi
On freezing of party accounts ahead of Lok Sabha elections, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi says, "This is a criminal action on the Congress party, a criminal action done by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister...So, the idea that India is a democracy is a lie. There is no democracy in India today. The idea that India is the world's largest democracy is a lie. A complete lie. 20% of India votes for us and we are not able to pay Rs 2 for anything. It has been orchestrated to cripple us in the elections. Even if our bank accounts are unfrozen today, huge amount of debt damage has been done to Indian democracy."Read More: AIADMK Announces Second List of Candidates for Lok Sabha Elections 2024
Electoral Bonds Data Released On Website After Supreme Court Order
The Election Commission of India uploaded the data on electoral bonds on its website on Thursday as received from SBI following a Supreme Court order. The ECI was instructed to publish the data by March 13. The poll panel issued a press note providing the link to access the data provided by SBI.
"In compliance with the Hon'ble Supreme Court's directions, as contained in its orders dated February 15 and March 11, 2024 (in the matter of WPC NO.880 of 2017), the State Bank of India (SBI) provided the data pertaining to the electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on March 12, 2024," the press note stated.