BJP has ‘buried’ democracy, electoral procedures, says Alagiri

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president KS Alagiri on Monday said that the BJP regime led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ‘buried’ the electoral procedures and democracy in the country through electoral bonds.

Referring to a recent report of ADR (Association for Democratic Reforms) on political funding through electoral bonds for the past five years, which shows BJP garnering 94% of the total contribution (corporate donations) in Gujarat, Alagiri said that as per the report, of the combined donation of Rs 174 crore received by all parties in donations in Gujarat from March 2018 to October 2022, BJP’s share was Rs 163 crore, which is 94% of the total contribution with most donations in the denomination of Rs 1 crore.

Citing the finding of the report that a Gujarat based Prudent Electoral Trust has donated Rs 74 crore to BJP in one shot, the TNCC chief said that the BJP has amended laws in such a way that there was no need to disclose the donation details to the ECI.

“There cannot be more blatant corruption than the BJP collecting donation from corporate firms through cheques instead of taking bribes from them directly,” Alagiri said.

“The Modi regime has given legal protection to corruption through such donations. It has buried election procedures and democracy in toto. A great threat has been posed to democracy because of ECI abetting the same,” he added.

Accusing the BJP of creating a situation unfavourable for free and fair elections in Assembly election bound Gujarat by collecting electoral bonds in such a manner from the corporate firms, Alagiri said that the BJP has gained an undue advantage and eliminated a level playing field in the electoral fray by exploiting the electoral bonds to its advantage using its power at the Centre.

“Democracy of the country has been jeopardized by the BJP bringing all Constitutional bodies, including the ECI under its control. Rahul Gandhi is mobilizing the people against such an injustice through his Bharta Jodo Yatra, which has created a situation to overthrow the fascist regime led by Prime Minister Narenda Modi,” Alagiri said.