Shatrughan Sinha is contesting Lok Sabha election from Bengal’s Asansol
Patna:
Opposition events acquired donations by way of the electoral bonds scheme, however it was the BJP who used the system for extortion and blackmail, actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha has informed NDTV. The Trinamool Congress MP, who’s gearing up for the Lok Sabha battle in West Bengal’s Asansol, was in Patna when NDTV caught up with him.
Responding to a query on the Trinamool Congress rating second on the listing of events that acquired donations by way of the now-scrapped system, Mr Sinha mentioned, “Has the Trinamool Congress or another Opposition occasion resorted to extortion or blackmail? Have they utilized strain that if you don’t give a donation, ED, CBI and Revenue Tax will go after you? Have those that donated by way of electoral bonds acquired contracts price hundreds of crores?”
Mr Sinha mentioned it was the BJP which launched the electoral bonds scheme for political funding. “You cleared the best way, what’s the issue if others jumped in? They didn’t misuse the system or hatch a conspiracy or pull off a fraud. They didn’t commit atrocities or threaten individuals with arrest,” he mentioned.
The ruling BJP, he mentioned, had carried out “chanda ka dhanda” (enterprise of donation). “You gave out contracts (based mostly on donation), made arrests, threatened individuals. There’s a sea of distinction,” he mentioned.
“Whether or not it’s Trinamool Congress or Samajwadi Occasion or Congress, they acquired cash underneath the system, however they didn’t misuse it, they didn’t attempt to flip it into worry. You can not draw a comparability between us and the ruling occasion,” Mr Sinha mentioned.
In keeping with the info launched by the Election Fee of India, the BJP acquired the utmost funds by way of these bonds (Rs 6,986.5 crore) for the reason that scheme was carried out in 2018. Trinamool Congress was a distant second (Rs 1,397 crore) and Congress ranked third (Rs 1,334 crore).
Requested if the electoral bonds revelation is now a ballot difficulty, Mr Sinha agreed. He additionally flagged the Election Fee of India’s response to issues concerning the Digital Voting Machines. “Folks really feel that the Election Fee has not come out clear on the query of EVMs. They used shayari to trivialise the matter. Fact and transparency matter. It’s equally vital that good work is completed and good work is seen to be carried out,” he mentioned.
Earlier with the BJP, Mr Sinha joined the Congress in 2019 and switched to the Trinamool in 2022. He received the Asansol parliamentary seat in a bypoll the identical 12 months.
