Fund trail possible due to electoral bonds, shortcomings could be improved: PM Modi
Cong slams PM over his remarks on electoral bonds issue
New Delhi, Apr 1: The Congress on Monday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks on the electoral bonds issue, claiming that while the corruption of his government had been known for a while, the setback is that there are now "hard numbers to prove it".
Prime Minister Modi on Sunday rejected the suggestion that the electoral bond issue caused a setback to his government, saying no system is perfect and any shortcoming could be improved upon.
In an interview with Thanthi TV, he also said those who are "dancing" over the matter will repent it.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh attacked Modi over his remarks and charged, "Every single day the prime minister scales new heights of hypocrisy and plumbs new depths of dishonesty".
"The prime minister has fully lied to the nation in his latest interview to a Tamil television channel. He claims that 'where funds have come from, how they are being used' is only known due to the Electoral Bond Scheme instituted by him," Ramesh said and put forward "relevant facts".
"The Electoral Bond Scheme was designed to be fully anonymous. In other words, Modi wanted to hide from the public the details of 'where funds have come from (to political parties), and how they are being used," he alleged.
For six years, between 2018 and 2024, not a single detail of which party got funds from which donor was revealed to the public, Ramesh said in a post on X.
In 2024, the Supreme Court intervened to reject the electoral bond scheme as unconstitutional. Up until the last day in court, the Modi government tried to defend the anonymity of the scheme, the Congress leader said.
Finally, the Supreme Court demanded that the SBI publish the details of who donated to which party, he noted.
"Still, the remote-controlled SBI lied to the court, saying it did not collect this information. Then, it requested three months' time to collate the data, conveniently seeking an extension until after the election. It was only the Supreme Court's strong intervention that forced the SBI to release the data publicly within days," Ramesh said.
He alleged that the SBI was lying in the Supreme Court when it demanded a three-month extension to match donor data with the political parties.
"It took our team five lines of Python code and less than fifteen seconds to match each donor with the political party they donated to," he said.
"As for the PM's question of 'what have I done that I should face a setback (due to Electoral Bonds)?' Mr. Modi, the data has revealed your party and Government's monumental corruption," Ramesh alleged.
He claimed that "Rs. 4 lakh crores worth of contracts, projects, and environmental clearances can be linked to thousands of crores in electoral bond donations made by corporate donors to your party. The Government of India has been reduced to a supermarket - 'Chanda Do, Dhanda Lo'."
"At least 40 ED/IT/CBI raids on firms have been followed by hefty electoral bond donations by these firms to the BJP. The prime minister and his cronies have been engaged in a systematic 'hafta vasuli'," Ramesh alleged.
"The corruption of the Modi Sarkar has been known for a while now; the setback is that there are now hard numbers to prove it. Unfortunately, we can expect the prime minister to continue his full-time job of lying to the Indian people to cover it up," the Congress leader said.
In his interview, Modi said, "Tell me what have we done that I should see it as a setback? I firmly believe that those dancing over it (bond details) and taking pride in it are going to repent."
The prime minister said it is due to the electoral bond system put in by his government that the sources of funding and its beneficiaries could be found out.
If a trail is available today, it is because of the presence of bonds, he said, asking if any agency can tell about the sources of funding and their beneficiaries for the polls before 2014, the year he came to power.
"No system is perfect. There can be shortcomings which could be improved upon," he said.
हर दिन प्रधानमंत्री हिपोक्रिसी की नई ऊंचाइयों को छू रहे हैं और बेईमानी की और अधिक गहराई में उतरते जा रहे हैं।
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 1, 2024
एक तमिल टेलीविजन चैनल को दिए अपने ताज़ा इंटरव्यू में प्रधानमंत्री ने देश से एक बार फिर बहुत बड़ा झूठ बोला है। उन्होंने कहा कि "फंड कहां से आया है, उसका इस्तेमाल कैसे… pic.twitter.com/JZ5ZvX6R9Z
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
