NEW DELHI, March 27: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said that all major political parties have encashed electoral bonds and nobody has a moral authority to say anything as it was legal and according to law.
She also said that in view of the Supreme Court’s judgement against electoral bonds, more debate is needed to come out with a better system for electoral funding.
Replying to a question at Times Now Summit here, the minister said the law, which has now been quashed by the apex court, was passed by Parliament and the bonds were purchased as per the prevail-ing law at that time.
“It was passed by Parliament and based on the law, bonds have bought and encashed by all parties but one… Everyone has received from everybody, every donor has given everybody. The very party which now says well this is a scam, this is a scandal, had also taken money through the bonds. Tell me what moral authority anyone has to speak because it was the law then… it went lawfully. It was a step better than what prevailed earlier,” Sitharaman said.
On what the new government can do in this regard, she said there is a need to understand how to better the system, which has been rejected now.
“The system of electoral bonds was still better than the previous system, which is what we’ve gone back to now. We need to do something better, but a lot more work is required”, she added.
Have declined offer to contest polls: FM
Meanwhile, Sitharaman on Wednesday said she declined the offer of the BJP to contest elections plead-ing that she did not have the ‘kind of funds’ required for fighting the Lok Sabha polls.
The minister said that BJP president JP Nadda gave her the option to contest either from Andhra Pra-desh or Tamil Nadu.
“After thinking over a week or ten days, I just went back to say… maybe not. I do not have that kind of money to contest. I also have a problem whether it is Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu. It’s also going to be a question of various other winnability criteria that they use…Are you from this community or are you from that religion? Are you from this? I said no, I do not think I am going to able to do it,” she said.
“I am very grateful that they accepted my argument…So I am not contesting,” she added.
When asked why even the finance minister of the country does not have enough funds to fight Lok Sabha polls, she said that the Consolidated Fund of India does not belong to her.
She said, “My salary, my earnings, my savings are mine and not the Consolidated Fund of India”. (PTI)
