Professor Haragopal claims that Modi acknowledged his inability to stop the flow of illegal money

Professor Haragopal, a retired professor from the University of Hyderabad (UOH), said that rather than using electoral bonds, the Union government should have stopped the flow of black money using taxes, information technology, and other law enforcement agencies.

Speaking on Sunday at Madina Public School, Haragopal’s address was headlined “Election 2024: Democracy and Constitution in Danger.” Prominent Supreme Court Senior Advocate Prashant Bhushan and RTI activist Anjali Bharadwaj accompanied him.

The primary campaign cry of the BJP administration, which took office in 2014, was that the Congress was corrupt and that large sums of money were hidden both domestically in India and abroad, particularly in Swiss banks. Every household might get Rs 15 lakh if it is brought back. Haragopal said, “I don’t know how anybody justifies that it (electoral bonds) is not a corrupt practice because the Supreme Court has declared it unconstitutional and illegal. But after ten years, suddenly this issue of electoral bonds has come up.”

The ex-teacher said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently stated in an interview that there is a lot of flow of black money in India, if you say that you are conceding that there is a lot of black money in India. He was talking to electoral bonds. The announcement of demonetisation was a move to place a restraint on black money, since this administration had pledged to the public that it would eradicate black money in ten years. If they are reelected, according to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, “they will bring back the electoral bonds, but how can you when it is already unconstitutional?”

Meanwhile, Prashant Bhushan said that more than a few thousand crores had been lost in the electoral bond “scam.” “If the BJP in power collected Rs 6,000 crore from the election bonds, the corporate players who purchased the bonds and avoided legal action ended up with contracts of at least one lakh crore. For this reason, the spouse of Nirmala Sitharaman referred to it as the “biggest scam in the world.”

He also questioned why political parties were exempt from the spending restriction but candidates were. Assuming that 500 BJP candidates spend the whole Rs 75 lakh upper limit stipulated by the ECI, it comes to almost Rs 400 crore. However, because there is no limit on its spending, the party will use the remaining funds. When the whole riches of one party (the BJP) is coupled with that of all the other opposition parties, how can we have a fair playing field?

Haragopal also brought up the PM’s statement that, upon the Union government’s election to a third term, significant amendments will be made to the constitution. “They need to inform the public about the adjustments that were unsuccessfully attempted during the last ten years. He has acknowledged that, despite extensive requirements and a plethora of measures passed into law, they have not been able to manage black money during the last ten years.