Launching a scathing attack on the BJP-led government at the Centre, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday accused the ruling dispensation of using the State Bank of India (SBI) as a shield to hide its dubious dealings through electoral bonds.

The statement of the Congress chief comes a day after the SBI moved the Supreme Court and sought time till 30th June to furnish electoral bond details to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Notably, the apex court on 15th February while declaring the 2017 electoral bond being “violative of Article 19(1)(a) and unconstitutional”, had directed the SBI to submit to the poll panel all the details of the electoral bonds purchased since 12th April, 2019, by 6th March.

Reacting to the latest move of the SBI, the Congress president in a post on X wrote, “Modi government is using the largest bank of our country as a shield to hide its dubious dealings through electoral bonds.”

Referring to the SC’s judgement on electoral bonds scheme, Kharge said, “No less than the Supreme Court of India had struck down Modi government’s ‘black money conversion’ scheme of electoral bonds, holding it ‘unconstitutional’, ‘violative of RTI’ and ‘Illegal’ and asking SBI to furnish donor details by 6th March. But the BJP wants it to be done after Lok Sabha (LS) elections. The tenure of this LS will end on 16th June and SBI wants to share the data by 30th June.”

BJP is the main beneficiary of this fraudulent scheme, he alleged.

“Isn’t the Modi government conveniently hiding BJP’s shady dealings where contracts of highways, ports, airports, power plants etc were handed over to Modi ji’s cronies in lieu of these opaque electoral bonds? Experts say that the 44,434 automated data entries of donors can be divulged and matched in just 24 hours, why does the SBI then need four more months to collate this information?,” the Congress chief questioned.

Asserting that the Congress party was crystal clear that the electoral bonds scheme was “opaque, undemocratic and destroyed level playing field”, he said, “But the Modi government, PMO and FM bulldozed every institution – RBI, Election Commission, Parliament and Opposition to fill BJP’s coffers.”

Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, attacking the ruling BJP further said, “Now a desperate Modi government, clutching on straws, is trying to use SBI to bulldoze the Supreme Court’s judgement.”