The Election Commission of India was on Saturday grilled on the surprise resignation of election commissioner Arun Goel and the transparency of political donations. Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar played the privacy card to both queries.

On political donations, Kumar stressed that the poll panel does make public the accounts of the parties and the poll expenditures of the candidates.

He went on to bat for both the transparency of the donations and the privacy of the donors.

The Supreme Court has stressed the need for transparency in political donations and ordered the disclosure of the electoral bond data that protected the identities of
the donors.

“As regards electoral bonds, the commission has always been in favour of transparency…. In a democracy, there is no scope for hiding things,” Kumar, flanked by the two new election commissioners at the news conference where the general election was announced, said.

He added: “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.

“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.”

On Goel’s sudden resignation just before the polls, Kumar said: “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.”

Kumar added: “In the commission, we have a very sound tradition… that dissent within the commission is encouraged.”