New Delhi [India], April 16 : Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark on Electoral Bond scheme, AAP leader and MP Sanjay Singh said that the Prime Minister should apologize to the Supreme Court for defending the electoral bonds which was termed "unconstitutional and illegal" by the apex court.
Sanjay Singh's statement came after Prime Minister Modi, in an interview to ANI accused the opposition parties of "spreading lies" over the electoral bonds scheme, which has been struck down by the Supreme Court, and said "everyone will regret it when there is an honest reflection."
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, the AAP leader said, "Yesterday, PM Modi gave a detailed interview. But the most shocking thing in the interview is that the Prime Minister is openly defending the biggest scam since independence. The Supreme Court called electoral bonds unconstitutional and illegal. He also insulted the Supreme Court, he should apologize to the Supreme Court and the people of the country."
Singh said that the Prime Minister did not say anything on the issues related to inflation and unemployment.
"The Prime Minister and his government in 10 years have done nothing for the country. He did not say anything on the issues of the country including rising inflation, unemployment, Agniveer Yojana and the problem of Manipur," the AAP leader said.
Meanwhile, in an interview with ANI, PM Modi said the electoral bonds scheme was aimed at curbing black money in elections and said the opposition wants to run away after making allegations.
He said of the 16 companies who gave donations after action by probe agencies, only 37 per cent of the amount went to the BJP and 63 per cent to opposition parties opposed to the BJP.
The Prime Minister said the country has been pushed towards "black money" in elections and everyone will regret it. In his first detailed reaction on electoral bonds scheme, PM Modi, who has been on a hectic campaign for the Lok Sabha polls, said the scheme should also be viewed a success story as it has allowed the trail to show who had made contributions to political parties through the scheme.
He also said there is a lot scope of improvement in the scheme.
"There has been a discussion in our country for a long time that (through) black money a dangerous game is there in elections. The play of black money in the country's elections ends, this discussion has been going on for a long time. Money is spent in elections; no one can deny this. My party also spends, all parties, candidates spend and money has to be taken from people. I wanted that we try something, how can our elections be free from this black money, how can there be transparency? There was a pure thought in my mind. We were looking for a way. We found a small way, we never claimed that this was the absolute way," he said.
The Supreme Court in February this year struck down the electoral bonds scheme and said it was "unconstitutional."
INDIA Bloc parties have been targeting the BJP-led government over the electoral bonds scheme in their election campaign.
In its decision, the Supreme Court asked the SBI to stop issuing electoral bonds.In compliance with a directive from the Supreme Court, the Election Commission of India (ECI) uploaded data on electoral bonds on its official website. The data was provided by the State Bank of India (SBI) on the directions of the apex court.