Intention behind electoral bonds scheme was good: Gadkari; says no party can survive sans funds
Ahmedabad (PTI): Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said it was not possible to run a political party without funds, and added that the Centre had introduced the electoral bonds scheme, now struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, in 2017 with a "good intention".
The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said all political parties need to sit together and deliberate if the Supreme Court gives any further direction on the matter.
He made the comments at an event organised by a media house in GIFT City near Gandhinagar on Friday.
"When Arun Jaitely was (Union finance) minister, I was part of that discussion (regarding electoral bonds). No party can survive without resources. In some countries, governments fund political parties. There is no such system in India. Thus, we chose this system of financing political parties," said Gadkari on a question about electoral bonds.
He noted the main intention behind introducing electoral bonds was that political parties get funds directly, but the names (of donors) are not disclosed because "problems arise if the party in power changes".
The road transport and highways minister said just like a media house needs a sponsor to finance an event, political parties also require funds to run their affairs.
"You need to see the ground reality. How are parties supposed to fight elections? We brought this system of electoral bonds to bring transparency. So, our intention was good when we brought electoral bonds. If the SC finds any shortcomings in it and asks us to rectify it, all parties will sit together and unanimously deliberate on it," emphasised the former BJP president.
"In the interest of our country and value-based democracy, everyone needs to find a transparent way (of financing parties). Because without funds, parties can't undertake any activity," asserted the minister.
The Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment last month, annulled the electoral bonds scheme ahead of the April-May Lok Sabha polls.
The top court said the scheme violates the constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression as well as the right to information.
Since then, the State Bank of India (SBI) has released different sets of data pertaining to the electoral bonds, containing details about funds received by political parties under the scheme, to the Election Commission.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bengaluru: Two booked for disabling 240 CCTV cameras at Chinnaswamy Stadium
Bengaluru (PTI): An FIR has been registered against two persons for allegedly tampering with the CCTV surveillance system at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on the day of the RCB versus GT IPL match on April 24, police said on Monday.
The accused, identified as Manjunath (37) and Abdul Kalam (19), allegedly entered the stadium without valid authorisation, reportedly by misusing a deactivated access card, and tampered with critical surveillance infrastructure, they said.
The complaint was lodged by Aditya Bhat of Staqu Technologies Pvt Ltd, which provides AI-driven surveillance support during match days, police said.
According to the FIR, more than 240 cameras went offline on the morning of the match.
The two, said to be associated with subcontractor IVS Digital Solutions, allegedly damaged Network Video Recorder (NVR) systems and optical fibre connections, disrupting surveillance coverage in key security zones, including entry gates and perimeter areas.
The accused allegedly entered the CCTV room without proper access and later moved to a junction box near the parking area, where fibre connections were damaged, the FIR stated.
The alleged sabotage affected the availability of surveillance feeds required by police personnel deployed for match security, it added.
A senior police officer said that on the morning of April 24, at around 11.30 am, the two employees, working under a sub-vendor providing digital services during match days, carried out the act.
According to him, the accused duo damaged CCTV fibre connections and a video recorder. The issue was detected and rectified within an hour.
Preliminary investigation suggests that the two employees may have had a personal grudge against the company, possibly related to pending payments, which may have led them to commit the act, he said.
“Both accused have been identified, and further action will be taken soon. All CCTVs were restored within an hour, and the disruption did not impact match proceedings,” he added.
