With the force of the Supreme Court verdict behind its persistent objection to the electoral bonds, the Congress on Thursday portrayed the "opaque" scheme as an example of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s "outright corruption".

Soon after the Supreme Court dismissed the electoral bonds as “unconstitutional”, the Congress unsheathed its sword with its media department head Pawan Khera saying: “We don’t want to say it in a roundabout way, that it is electoral malpractice or BJP’s corruption. It is outright Modi’s corruption. Modi is unmasked today; his corrupt tricks lie exposed.”

The top leaders of the party had set the stage for such a blunt attack on the Prime Minister, who often flaunts his credentials against corruption even as the majority of the Opposition parties have accused him of political witch-hunt by selectively misusing the investigative agencies and embracing tainted leaders of all hues.

Rahul Gandhi wrote on X: “One more proof of Modi’s corrupt policies is before you. The BJP had turned the electoral bond into an instrument of bribery and commission. This has been established today.”

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said: “On the day of the launch of the electoral bonds scheme, the Congress party had called it opaque and undemocratic. Subsequently in its 2019 manifesto, the Congress promised to scrap this dubious scheme. We welcome the decision of the Supreme Court, which has struck down this 'Black Money Conversion' scheme of the Modi government, calling it unconstitutional”.

Expressing apprehensions about Modi’s machinations to nullify the Supreme Court’s order, Kharge said, “We remember how the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) and the finance minister (Arun Jaitley) bulldozed every institution — the RBI, Election Commission, Parliament and the Opposition — to fill the BJP’s coffers. No wonder, 95 per cent of the funding under this scheme was received by the BJP. We hope that the Modi government will stop resorting to such mischievous ideas in future and listen to the Supreme Court, so that democracy, transparency and a level-playing field persist.”

Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said: “The Supreme Court today proved that the Modi government is suit-boot-loot ki Sarkar. The court has held that the much-touted electoral bonds scheme is violative of both laws passed by Parliament as well as the Constitution of India. The long-awaited verdict is hugely welcome and will reinforce the power of votes over notes.”

Using the "lack of transparency" argument, Ramesh drew the nation’s attention to EVMs also. He said: “We also hope that the Supreme Court will take note that the Election Commission has been consistently refusing to even meet political parties on the issue of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). If everything is transparent in the voting process, then why this obstinacy?”

Former finance minister P. Chidambaram said: “The right of the people to know has been placed above all clever legal arguments marshalled to defend the illegal electoral bonds scheme. The judgement of the Supreme Court is a great victory for transparency, the right to know and, if I may add, level playing field in elections.”

Chidambaram added: “The electoral bonds scheme violated every principle of equality, fairness, reasonableness and democracy. The fact that the BJP cornered nearly 90 per cent of the donations by corporates and high-net-worth individuals will be exposed now. Let the world know who gave money, when the money was given, and to which party it was given The people will ask why the money was given to a political party. And the people will draw their own conclusions.”