Shatrughan Sinha's "Chanda Ka Dhanda" Jab At BJP Over Poll Bonds

Shatrughan Sinha, a Trinamool Congress MP, is gearing up for the Lok Sabha battle in West Bengal's Asansol

Opposition parties received donations through the electoral bonds scheme, but it was the BJP who used the system for extortion and blackmail, actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha has told NDTV. The Trinamool Congress MP, who is gearing up for the Lok Sabha battle in West Bengal's Asansol, was in Patna when NDTV caught up with him.

Responding to a question on the Trinamool Congress ranking second on the list of parties that received donations through the now-scrapped system, Mr Sinha said, "Has the Trinamool Congress or any other Opposition party resorted to extortion or blackmail? Have they applied pressure that if you do not give a donation, ED, CBI and Income Tax will go after you? Have those who donated through electoral bonds received contracts worth thousands of crores?"

Mr Sinha said it was the BJP which introduced the electoral bonds scheme for political funding. "You cleared the way, what's the problem if others jumped in? They did not misuse the system or hatch a conspiracy or pull off a fraud. They did not commit atrocities or threaten people with arrest," he said.