The CPM, of all the Opposition parties complaining about electoral bonds, could on Thursday not only claim a win in the Supreme Court verdict but also the moral high ground, having challenged the scheme in the top court and also opted to not take any money that may have come to the party through this opaque mechanism of political funding.

Welcoming the verdict, the CPM politburo said in a statement: “It is gratifying that the main contentions set out in the petition (filed by the party along with others) against the scheme have been upheld.” Stating that “this unscrupulous scheme” was designed to finance the ruling party by anonymous corporate donors, the CPM added: “It is essential now that reforms for political and electoral funding are introduced to ensure transparency, clean funding and a level playing field.”

The CPM filed a case against electoral bonds within a year of its announcement in the 2017-18 general budget and followed it up a couple of years later with a petition for an early hearing in the case.

Commenting on the verdict, AAP’s Delhi convenor and minister Gopal Rai said: “The question was being raised for a long time that through electoral bonds the central government is influencing people, and fair economic management in a democracy. I believe that the decision taken by the Supreme Court will bring transparency in the elections.”

The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackery group), which lost its government in Maharashtra to the machinations of the BJP, did not mince words in its reaction to the verdict. “One of the most corrupt tools in the BJP’s kitty rightfully struck down by the SC. Only if governments formed through corrupt and unconstitutional practises could also be struck down," Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha deputy leader Priyanka Chaturvedi posted on X.

With a graphic that showed the BJP alone cornering well over 50 per cent of the Rs 9,208.23 worth of electoral bonds sold between 2017-18 and 2021-22, Chaturvedi said: “This. The BJP graph versus the rest. Did someone say level playing field?” In response to the BJP’s claim of cleaning up electoral funding, she said: “The BJP has not ended corruption but rather corporatised and institutionalised it.”

Of the view that the verdict is good for the resurgence of democracy in India, Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav made out a case for a similar review of the PM CARES Fund, which is equally opaque.

Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin said: “The Hon’ble Supreme Court has rightly held that the electoral bonds are unconstitutional. This will ensure transparent electoral process and the integrity of the system. This judgement has restored the democracy and level playing field for all political parties. It has also ensured the common man’s faith in the system.”