Our intention was good when introduced electoral bonds, says Nitin Gadkari

AHMEDABAD: Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said that no political party can run without funds. He said the electoral bonds recently cancelled by the Supreme Court, was introduced by the central government in 2017 with a good intention. If the Supreme Court gives further directions on the matter, all the political parties will sit together and discuss, said Gadkari while speaking at a press conference held in Gandhinagar the other day.

‘When Arun Jaitley was serving as the union finance minister, I was also part of the discussions on electoral bonds. No party can survive without funds. In some countries, governments themselves fund political parties. However, there is no such system in India. So, we chose this system of financing political parties,’ said Gadkari.

‘The main intention behind introducing electoral bonds in the country is to get funds for parties to operate during elections. However, the names of donors and other information are not disclosed because problems arise when the party in power changes. Even a media needs a sponsor to finance an event. The same is the case with political parties. You need to understand the truth. The government introduced electoral bonds to bring transparency. Our intentions were good. If the Supreme Court finds any shortcomings in this matter, all the parties should sit together and take a unanimous decision. All the parties in our country need to find funds for their activities in a transparent manner. Without money, no party can carry out its activities,' he clarified.

The Supreme Court cancelled the electoral bonds scheme ahead of the Lok Sabha elections to be held in April-May. The Supreme Court said that this constitutionally violates people's freedom of expression and right to information. With this, the State Bank of India (SBI) has handed over the details about funds received by the political parties to the election commission.