AP: Protests Held at SBI Branches Demanding Disclosure of Electoral Bonds
B Tulasidas
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THE Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanded immediate disclosure of information regarding electoral bonds, as ordered by the Supreme Court. Protests were organised at SBI branches throughout Andhra Pradesh on March 11, in response to the Party's call. During the protest at the SBI main branch in Vijayawada, Party state secretary, V Srinivasa Rao, accused the ruling BJP of conducting politics with black money obtained from major corporations. He ridiculed the saffron party that talks about honesty while receiving kickbacks from corporate entities in the form of electoral bonds. The huge money obtained by the BJP through this corruption, was undermining the entire system. He further criticised the ruling and opposition parties of the state, YSRCP and TDP, for their silence on the issue of electoral bonds, suggesting that they too had received significant amounts from corporations. Protests were also held in Visakhapatnam, Anantapuramu, Kurnool, Nellore, Ongole, Kakinada, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, and other locations.
The protestors condemned the SBI management for failing to adhere to the directives issued by the Supreme Court. On February 15, the Supreme Court instructed the State Bank of India (SBI) to provide the Election Commission of India (ECI) with details of electoral bonds by March 6, enabling the ECI to publicizse them by March 13. They criticised the bank for requesting an extension until June, claiming it couldn't furnish the information within the allotted 21 days. Allegations were made that SBI was reluctant to disclose the information prior to the Lok Sabha elections due to fears of repercussions from the union government. They deemed it absurd for SBI, managing 48 crore accounts daily, to require 116 days to disclose details on 22,000 bonds. They highlighted that out of the Rs 8,970 crore raised through electoral bonds, the BJP received the largest sum of Rs 6,566 crore. They reiterated their determination to persist in protesting until the use of electoral bonds was discontinued.
The protest proudly highlighted that the CPI(M) had not accepted a single rupee through these bonds and had consistently opposed this practice since its inception.
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