We invite Nirmala to release full data on Electoral Bonds: Jairam Ramesh

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday asked Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to release the full data on donations under the now- scrapped Electoral Bonds scheme, a day after Election Commission posted the entire list of donors who purchased electoral bonds and political parties who had encashed them.

Taking to the social media platform X, Ramesh said, "The Finance Minister says that the link between the ED/CBI/IT raids on firms and their subsequent donations to the BJP are based on assumptions.

"If these assumptions are untrue, then we invite her to release the full data of who donated how much to which political party. It will put an end to the discussion once and for all," he added.

"It must be remembered that the Finance Minister is in charge of both the State Bank of India, which administers the #ElectoralBondScam, and the Enforcement Directorate, which enforces the Pradhan Mantri Hafta Vasuli Yojana," the Congress leader said in a statement on X.

Earlier today, the Union Finance Minister while participating in a media conclave dismissed as mere assumptions suggestions of links between raids by central agencies and electoral bonds.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut accused the BJP of being a core beneficiary of the electoral bonds purchased by the gaming and gambling companies.

Raut accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of being involved in the "biggest scam in the country".

Expressing concern over the case, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal asserted that the issue of electoral bonds would not be investigated by any probe agencies.

"ED and CBI are sleeping right now. If this thing happens against the Opposition they would have taken action. They have taken an overdose of sleeping pills. You must remember because I don't, that someone (referring to PM Modi) said 'na khaunga na khane dunga'. What happened to that? Someone (PM Modi) said that they would bring black money from the Swiss bank and transfer Rs 15 lakh each to people's accounts, but it seems like they have transferred that money to their accounts. In my opinion, this will not be investigated by any probe agencies. Now the responsibility is on the Court to determine what will they do and what action they will take," Sibal said.

Earlier, SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara, in the affidavit, told the Supreme Court that the bank has furnished the details to the Election Commission regarding the date of encashment of the electoral bonds, the name of political parties who have received the contributions and the denomination of the said bonds.

A total of 22,217 bonds were purchased during the period April 1, 2019 till February 15, 2024, SBI told the Supreme Court.