Congress clarified that it was not involved in the petition regarding VVPATs that was rejected by the Supreme Court on Friday, either directly or indirectly.
The day after the Supreme Court turned down requests to match all VVPAT slips with EVM votes, the Congress clarified that it wasn’t involved in the petition. In response to Narendra Modi calling the verdict a “tight slap” to the Opposition, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh pointed out the Supreme Court’s strong stance against the government in the electoral bonds case.
The Indian National Congress was not involved in the petition related to VVPATs that was rejected by the Supreme Court today, either directly or indirectly.
A Congress leader responded to PM Modi’s “tight slap” comment by reminding everyone that the Supreme Court recently made a strong statement against the corruption-ridden electoral bonds scheme. The Court not only deemed the scheme illegal but also unconstitutional, delivering a significant blow to the government.
Ramesh accused the Prime Minister of accumulating Rs 8,200 crore through corrupt practices like taking bribes, engaging in illegal businesses, extortion, and creating fake companies over the last five years. He previously alleged that the BJP received 75% of Rs 582 crore donated by 33 failing companies through electoral bonds.
In February, the Supreme Court’s five-judge Constitution bench declared the electoral bonds scheme allowing anonymous donations to political parties as “unconstitutional”.
However, the Congress party announced on Friday that it supports the increased use of VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails) to enhance public confidence in the election process.
Ramesh tweeted that despite the court’s ruling on electoral bonds, their political campaign for greater VVPAT usage to build trust in elections will persist.
The Supreme Court didn’t support the calls for increased VVPATs and rejected all petitions advocating a return to ballot papers in elections. The court cautioned against blindly distrusting any part of the electoral system, emphasizing that unwarranted scepticism could be harmful.