New Delhi: When asked about the surprise resignation of former election commissioner Arun Goel and on the need for transparency in political funding, chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday (March 16) claimed that privacy must be respected in these matters.
On political donations, according to The Telegraph, Kumar said that the Election Commission of India makes public party accounts and candidates’ expenditure. However, he also stressed that the privacy of donors should be respected. “As regards electoral bonds, the commission has always been in favour of transparency…. In a democracy, there is no scope for hiding things,” Kumar said.
“The country has to now also ask and find solutions through an institutional mechanism where the donor’s privacy is also considered…. But the unaccounted money which is used in the elections — which we try to control during elections…. How do we also control donations in the unaccounted form is something that the entire nation has to work together,” he continued. “How the donor’s privacy is also protected, he is not harassed, how it is channelised, how it is more and more white. In the digital age, there must be a very, very less cash economy.”
The ECI’s flip-flopping views on electoral bonds in the duration of the scheme and the court case against it have been documented.
On Goel’s resignation, Kumar said the matter was “personal”. “Mr Arun was a very, very distinguished member of our team and I thoroughly enjoyed working with him all the time. But in every institution somebody will have to be given the personal space and I am sure the personal space should not be touched and it is insensitive to ask personal questions,” he said.
These remarks were made at the press conference to announce dates for the 2024 elections, where Kumar was alongside the two new election commissioners appointed last week – Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar.
