Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being the “mastermind” of the electoral bonds “scam”. He said that the prime minister is now giving interviews as his scam has been caught.
PM Modi, in an interview with news agency ANI, said that the electoral bonds were aimed at curbing black money and that "everyone will regret it when there is an honest reflection". He also lashed out at the opposition for “spreading lies” about electoral bonds.
"This is the biggest extortion scheme of the world and PM Modi is the mastermind of it. Ask the PM to explain how one day CBI starts an inquiry and immediately after that they (the BJP) get the money, and then immediately after that, the CBI inquiry is scrapped. Big contracts, infrastructure contracts -- the company gives money and immediately after that they are given the contract," the Congress leader said.
Gandhi said if one sees the names and dates in the electoral bonds, they will realise that soon after the donors purchased the electoral bonds, either contracts were given to them or THE CBI inquiry against them was withdrawn.
"Pradhan Mantri pakde gaye hai isiliye ANI ko interview de rahe hai (Prime Minister has been caught which is why he is giving interview to ANI)," Rahul Gandhi told the media on Monday.
The Congress leader also challenged PM Modi to explain how some companies donated to the BJP through electoral bonds immediately after they came under the radar of the central probe agency.
The electoral bonds scheme was struck down by the Supreme Court on February 15 this year. It had called the scheme ‘unconstitutional’. The scheme had been criticised by the opposition parties as it kept the identity of the donors anonymous.