Mumbai, Mar 17: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday described the electoral bonds as "white collar corruption" of the ruling BJP and said the opposition bloc INDIA will form a secular, federal and inclusive government at the Centre.

Stalin was the first speaker at the INDIA grouping's rally at Mumbai's Shivaji Park.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done only two things in the past ten years foreign trips and fake propaganda. We have to stop this," he said.

The DMK chief said since the opposition named its bloc INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), the BJP has stopped using the word India'.

"This is fear. PM Modi has started defaming us as corrupt, but electoral bonds proved that BJP is corrupt. It's white collar corruption of the BJP," said Stalin.

Stalin said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra was an attempt to see through the heart of India, which he claimed has been destroyed by the BJP.

There is no bigger threat to India than BJP, he alleged.

"We have to defeat BJP. The journey which started in Kanyakumari should end by wresting power in Delhi," he said, adding that the INDIA bloc will form a secular, federal and inclusive government at the Centre after the Lok Sabha polls.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah said INDIA block partners have united to save the country.

AAP leader and Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said, "We are all here together because we don't fear going to jail. To win, we have to fight," he said.

Bharadwaj said that electoral bonds have exposed the BJP and people should be made aware of it.

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New Delhi, Feb 25 (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to respond on the possibility of framing a policy over the adverse effects, including deaths, of COVID-19 vaccination after being informed about the absence of any such scheme on compensation.

A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was informed by the Centre, represented by additional solicitor general Aiashwarya Bhati, that the pandemic was declared a disaster and the adverse effects following immunisation (AEFI) including the deaths were not covered under it and there was no policy for compensation in such cases.

The bench, however, said that COVID-19 deaths and vaccine-related deaths should not be viewed in isolation.

"Ultimately, the entire vaccination drive was a response to the pandemic. You cannot say they are not interlinked," it said.

The law officer said there was no policy under the Disaster Management Act to deal with the AEFI following the COVID-19 immunisation.

"The COVID-19 was declared a disaster, but the vaccination drive was conducted as per the medical protocol. The AEFI mechanism assesses whether a death is directly linked to the vaccine," she said.

Bhati sought three weeks to respond to the court’s suggestion which was allowed by the bench, which posted the appeal of the Centre against a Kerala High Court order for hearing on March 18.

One Sayeeda K A, whose husband died allegedly due to the side effects of COVID vaccine, moved the Kerala High Court seeking compensation.

It was alleged that there was no specific policy to deal with the AEFI.

The high court had ordered the National Disaster Management Authority to frame a policy for identifying cases of death due to the after-effects of the COVID-19 immunisation to pay the compensation to the kith and kin of the deceased.

The top court took note of the appeal of the Centre and stayed the high court’s decision in 2023.

The Serum Institute of India, which manufactured one of the COVID-19 vaccines, has also filed a transfer petition.