Parakala Prabhakar, husband of FM Sitharaman, claims that the electoral bond scheme is not only the largest scam India has witnessed but also the largest globally. He said that following the exposé, the battlelines have been drawn between the BJP and people of India. A report by Mudit Mathur
A series of interviews on various social media and news channel platforms by prominent political analyst and economist Parakala Prabhakar has triggered fresh political controversy across the nation about the survival of the Constitution of India and the democratic form of government through elections if Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP return to power. He warned of a scenario “akin to the Ladakh-Manipur situation extending nationwide.” He remarked, “After electoral bond corruption became public, now the fight is not between two alliances but between the BJP and the people of India.”
The issue assumes significance because Prabhakar is the spouse of the incumbent Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of India, Nirmala Sitharaman who politely declined the offer given by BJP leadership to contest election citing financial constraints. In a TV show of a prominent media group, Sitharaman said, “After thinking over a week or ten days, I just went back to say… maybe not. I do not have that kind of money to contest. I also have a problem whether it is Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu. It’s also going to be a question of various other winnability criteria that they use…Are you from this community or are you from that religion? Are you from this? I said no, I do not think I am going to be able to do it.” “My salary, my earnings, my savings are mine and not the Consolidated Fund of India,” she replied to a loaded question.
Prabhakar has voiced concerns over potential implications if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secures victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, suggesting a significant transformation in India’s landscape. “If PM Modi becomes PM again in 2024, India will never witness another election process. (Ek aur chunav ki ummed mat kijiye),” Prabhakar replied to the interviewer. “The constitution and map will change if PM Modi and his cabinet return to power. You would not be able to recognise this India, (Aap isko pehechan bhi nahin sakenge)”, Prabhakar boldly and fearlessly asserted. Citing inflammatory statements from BJP leaders and Modi himself, he warned of hate speeches escalating to the Red Fort in Delhi, suggesting a departure from subtlety.
Parakala alleged in an interview that the electoral bond scheme is not just the biggest scam India has seen, but the biggest scam globally. He says the BJP’s confidence that the common man is not able to understand the fallout of electoral bonds is false and that ‘Modi-gate’ will have an impact on this election.
The Congress Party further amplified the assertions of noted economist Parakala Prabhakar sharing his interview on its social media handle X on 7th April, purportedly lending credence to its ongoing campaigning echoing similar sentiments about the challenges before stressed democracy and survival of the Indian Constitution.
Prabhakar’s assertions about Prime Minister Modi have caused huge embarrassment to the ruling BJP as he is the spouse of none other than their own Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The West Bengal Congress president, Adhir Chowdhury heaped praise on Parakala Prabhakar, husband of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, for his views on the electoral bonds saying that he should be thanked for it and said that “electoral bonds were a systematic way to extort money”.
Reacting to the INDIA Bloc’s reactions over the growing concerns raised by Prabhakar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Vidarbha rally launched a scathing attack on the Congress cautioning the people not to believe the INDIA bloc’s false narrative on the Constitution which was spreading falsehood on dilution of the Constitution, never implemented it in the entire country when in power.
“They have done injustice to the Constitution, whose architect was Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. On the contrary, it was the NDA government that for the first time ensured its uniform implementation after the abrogation of Article 370. Through Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir was accorded separate rights,” Modi claimed.
