Congress demands Nirmala Sitharaman’s resignation in Electoral Bonds case

New Delhi: Congress on Sunday demanded the resignation of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after the registration of a case on court order following claims that the now-scrapped electoral bonds scheme was used to forcefully collect money from corporates.

Senior lawyer and Congress MP Abhishek Singhvi said “undermining democracy” is part of BJP's “plans of survival” and the FIR against Nirmala on electoral bonds “uncovers, unmasks, unseals and unveils the true nature” of the saffron party.

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said the FIR was ordered by a special court on a complaint filed by a person who is "not associated” with the party.

In a press conference, Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge said that the party must 'expel' Nirmala Sitharaman.

“If you have morality, then drive out former BJP Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and his son B Y Vijayendra who is the BJP state president. Expel Nirmala Sitharaman, (leader of opposition in the Karnataka assembly) R Ashoka and BJP MLA Munirathna,” he said.

The demand for resignation came against the backdrop of Bengaluru Police registering a case against Nirmala, and Karnataka BJP leaders Nalin Kateel and BY Vijayendra among others, accusing them of “committing extortion under the guise and garb of electoral bonds” to the tune of over Rs 8,000 crore. Singhvi called it “EBS or Extortionist BJP Scheme”.

Complainant Adarsh R Iyer, the co-president of ‘Janaadhikaara Sangharsha Parishath’, had also alleged that Nirmala through the “clandestine aid and support” of ED officials facilitated “extortion” both at the state and national levels.

Asked whether the alleged irregularities were limited to Nirmala's tenure, Singhvi said bulk of the electoral bonds operations happened during her time and one cannot limit it to it, as the investigation would go to the source. Ramesh said Nirmala was at the helm of affairs during five out of six years of the electoral bond's existence.

Demanding Nirmala's “speedy resignation”, Singhvi said the Finance Minister cannot do this on her own and everyone knows it was done under the directions of the BJP’s No 1 and No 2, in apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

“Many CEOs of companies were forced to buy electoral bonds worth crores, Rs 230 crore in one case, everything is mentioned in the FIR. It is well-known that it is not in the jurisdiction, will of the Finance Minister to do it alone. We know who is instructing,” Singhvi said.

“In many cases, raids were first conducted by agencies and then electoral bonds were taken by those companies. It was also observed that after the purchase of electoral bonds, the probe in those cases slowed down. We also saw many cases where companies whose paid-up capital was not even Rs 100 crore had purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 500 crore,” he said.

(With PTI inputs)