“Kitna Chanda Jeb Me Aya”: An apt commentary on Electoral Bonds

Bharatiya Liberal Party(BLP) : In 2020, a web series named Transparency:Pardarshita directed by Bharatiya Liberal Party president, Dr Munish Kumar Raizada, was released. One of the songs in the Web Series was based on the theme of political donations called "Kitna Chanda Jeb me aya (How much black money is received)". This song is sung by a renowned singer of Bollywood, Udit Narayan. Although Udit Narayan has entertained the world with a number of melodious songs, this was his first song on a political theme. One of the lyrics of the song goes something like this: पारदर्शिता पानी जैसी, ये न हो तो ऐसी तैसी (Transparency is like water, nothing sustains without it). These lines accurately capture the situation of India's political funding ecosystem.

In 2018, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party crossed all limits of immorality and introduced an utterly corrupt and opaque system for political funding or donation called Electoral Bonds. Under this system, political parties can receive donations as bonds from individuals or companies without disclosing it in public. This was an attempt to open the gateway for black money into India's political system. So much for transparent democracy, isn't it? 

Fortunately -albeit belatedly- the apex court took cognizance of this corrupt structure and declared the electoral Bonds "unconstitutional" and in violation of the citizen's right to know. Bharatiya Liberal Party President, Dr Munish Kumar Raizada, who has been vocal about the electoral reforms since long, called the court's decision historic. He also expressed his indignation on the shameful silence of the Prime Minister on the court's decision. "Not a single word has been spoken by our prime minister on the overturning of Electoral Bonds by the Prime Minister. He needs to apologize on behalf of his government for introducing Electoral bonds in the first place",  said Dr Raizada. "It says a lot about his (Prime minister) politics and his commitment to transparency". 

What's more interesting is to see the reluctance of SBI (government controlled bank keeping data of  each electoral bond) to make Electoral Bonds data public even after the clear instructions from the Supreme Court's highest bench. Although the bonds data can be shared in just one or two weeks, SBI sought permission from the court to extend it till June. Thankfully, the apex court didn't entertain SBI's request and ordered it to share all the data till 15th March. However, Dr Raizada stated that the data made public by the Election Commission is not complete. "The Election Commission has shared the full data. We still do not know which entity donated to which party. And How much.", said Dr Raizada. "The full story is still unclear".

All this shows that India's political system is completely opaque and is in dire need of reforms. All political parties, regardless of their ideologies and values, are drowned in corruption. Dr Munish Raizada and Bharatiya Liberal Party strongly believe that transparency and good governance are the bedrock of democracy. We are committed to provide a good governance model to the state of Delhi and bring transparency in the system.

To watch the complete web series(Transparency:Pardarshita), visit Dr Munish Kumar Raizada's YouTube Channel (@DrMunishRaizada) or follow the link below: