"Are all 1,300 companies that donated through bonds thieves?" Acharya Pramod Krishnam amid Oppn barbs at Centre

Coming out in support of the Centre amid the Opposition volleys over the publication of date on polling funding through electoral bonds on the official portal of the Election Commission (EC), expelled Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam on Saturday asked if the rival parties were suggesting that all the 1,300 firms that made donations via electoral bonds were 'thieves'.

Speaking to on Saturday, Acharya Krishnam, who has been taking regular potshots at the Congress since being expelled for 'anti-party activities', said, "All political parties across the world receive donations. Are they (Opposition) suggesting that the 1,300 companies that made political donations through these electoral bonds, the money from which went into nation-building, are thieves? Are they robbers? The money they have donated is now on record. It is in the public domain. Casting aspersions on the contributions that are on record shows the dirty mindset of the Opposition."

Coming down heavily on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who claimed earlier that the BJP was running the "biggest extortion in the world" through the Electoral Bond Scheme, the expelled leader added, "The entire Opposition has started speaking in Rahul-ji's language. This is most unfortunate."


Acharya Krishnam added that the Opposition was questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intent behind launching the Electoral Bond Scheme.

"Prime Minister Modi's intent is as transparent as the waters of the Gangotri. The Opposition wants to put a stain on it. Those who have looted the country for 70 years are now raising questions about donations. It isn't right to doubt PM Modi's intentions," the expelled leader said.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, on the sidelines of his ongoing 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', Rahul claimed earlier that the ED and CBI are no longer autonomous institutions but are weapons in the hands of the BJP and RSS to target Opposition leaders.

The Election Commission said on Thursday that it had, in compliance with the Supreme Court's direction, uploaded the data on electoral bonds on its website as received from SBI on "as is where is basis".

The Congress on Friday alleged that 60 per cent of the electoral bonds had gone to the BJP a day after the Election Commission published the electoral bond data shared by the State Bank of India on the orders of the Supreme Court.

Speaking to ANI during the Maharashtra leg of Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh said, "I have analyzed it (electoral bonds)...The analysis shows how the electoral bonds were misused. 60 per cent of the electoral bonds went to the BJP. I have shown through the analysis how the ED, CBI and Income Tax have also been misused..."

"Those who have donated were awarded contracts and other projects. It is a joint conspiracy," the Congress MP alleged.