Although Indian National Congress too is the recipient of donations worth Rs 500 Crore (out of Rs 6000 Crore worth of bonds sold by the SBI) through electoral bonds, Rajya Sabha MP and party spokesperson Prof Rajeev Gowda declared that the party is in favour of scrapping the scheme.

Addressing the media in New Delhi, Prof Gowda referred to the Huffington Post India’s report that the Government had ignored objections raised by the Reserve Bank of India before announcing the scheme in the Union Budget on February 1, 2017.

Pointing out that even the Election Commission had opposed the scheme, Prof Gowda said that the Congress wanted the the central government to explain what policy favours, including sale of public assets, have been offered by the Government to those who purchased the bonds and donated to the BJP.