In a show of strength amid speculation of his arrest, which has ramped up following the sixth summons issued to him on Wednesday in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal moved a trust vote in the Assembly today. Discussions on the motion will be held tomorrow. 

Moving the vote of confidence motion in the Assembly, Mr Kejriwal said two AAP MLAs told him that they were approached by members of the BJP who claimed that the Delhi chief minister would be arrested soon.

“The MLAs were told that 21 AAP legislators have agreed to leave the party and more are in touch with the BJP. They offered the MLAs Rs 25 crore to join the BJP. The MLAs told me they did not accept. When we spoke to other MLAs, we found that they had not contacted 21, but seven. They were trying to carry out another Operation Lotus,” Mr Kejriwal said. 

“So it is clear that the alleged liquor policy scam is not a scam at all but an attempt to break our party and topple the government by filing false cases like they have in other states. Their aim is not to carry out an investigation but to arrest our leaders – and they have already arrested some – in the guise of the liquor policy case. Their aim is to topple the government because they know they can never win elections in Delhi,” the AAP chief claimed. 

Kavita Chaudhary passed away at the age of 67 in Amritsar after suffering a heart attack on Thursday. Her nephew confirmed her death. The veteran actress was famous for her role as Kalyani Singh in the 1989 TV show Udaan. The funeral took place on Friday.

In an interview with a leading news portal, Kavita’s nephew Ajay Sayal said, “She died due to cardiac arrest on Thursday at 8.30 pm. She breathed her last at Parvati Devi Hospital in Amritsar, where she was being treated.”

In the 1989 show Udaan, Kavita portrayed the role of IPS officer Kalyani Singh. Additionally, she was the writer and director of the show, which was inspired by the life of her sister Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya, the second IPS officer after Kiran Bedi.

During that period, Kavita was celebrated as a symbol of women’s empowerment because there were few female IPS officers depicted in movies and television. As her career progressed, Kavita went on to produce television shows such as Your Honour and IPS Diaries.

Kavita was famous for her portrayal of Lalitaji in the iconic Surf ads during the 1980s and 1990s. In these ads, she played the role of a savvy homemaker who is careful with her finances and consistently makes wise decisions.

A day after the Supreme Court struck down the electoral bonds scheme – on grounds it violated citizens’ right to information, was unconstitutional, and may lead to quid pro quo arrangements between political parties and donors – the government has said it is “studying” the order.

Sources told NDTV the government is weighing options and will not, at this stage, move to overrule the country’s highest court, like it did in December when it passed a bill – with most opposition leaders suspended – to establish a new mechanism to appoint members of the Election Commission.

Sources also said the government is concerned about the return of black money, and had further noted that revealing donors’ identities – as instructed by the court – is “against laws of banking”.

Electoral bonds, sources said, were brought in to “reduce magnitude of black money” before 2017″ and were move the landscape of political funding “from a murky situation to a better system”.

The other model – under which trusts distribute contributions received by companies and individuals to political parties – “has been studied in the past, but its challenges were too many”, sources added.

The electoral bonds scheme was meant to “give comfort to donors”, government sources said.

BJP’s Response

This comes after top BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said the bonds were part of his party’s “sincere efforts to make elections transparent”, but that it would also respect the court’s order.

READ | BJP Defends Electoral Bonds, But Says Respects Supreme Court Verdict

Mr Prasad, however, reserved further comment, pointing to the extensive final order (which runs into hundreds of pages) and stating it required study before the BJP decided its next course.

Supreme Court’s Electoral Bonds Verdict

On Thursday a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said the scheme could not compensate for its drawbacks. Electoral bonds, the court said, could not be the only way to curb black money.

The landmark order came just weeks before a general election.

The court ordered the State Bank of India to stop issuing bonds and provide details of donations made to the Election Commission, which was told to publish the data on its website by March 13.

READ | Electoral Bonds “Unconstitutional”, Stop Immediately: Supreme Court

Petitioners had argued the scheme, launched in 2018, allowed political parties to not disclose contributions received via this route, meaning companies could make unlimited fund transfers.

The crux of the issue were – does such unlimited corporate funding violate the principle of a free and fair election, and if the amendments violated the Right to Information Act.

READ | 2 Key Issues In Focus As Supreme Court Struck Down Electoral Bonds

During a hearing in November last year (the second hearing), the court also noted the bonds “provide (only) selective anonymity… ” since purchase records can be accessed by investigative agencies.

READ | “Selective Anonymity”: Supreme Court On Day 2 Of Electoral Bonds Hearing

This was in response to the government’s argument that absent provision for anonymous donations, a large volume of political funding could revert to black money. The government had also argued the provision for anonymous donation was needed to protect donors from “victimisation and retribution”.

What Opposition Said

The Congress welcomed the verdict, stating it reinforced the power of ‘votes’ over ‘notes. Senior leader, ex-Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, said the “right of the people to know has been placed above all clever legal arguments… to defend the illegal electoral bonds scheme”.

READ | Court’s Electoral Bond Verdict Gives CPM A ‘I Told You So’ Moment

The Aam Aadmi Party called the verdict an important step in ensuring transparent polls, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), a petitioner in the case, said electoral bonds were the “legalisation of political corruption”. The CPM was the only party that didn’t accept such donations.

What Are Electoral Bonds. Who Got How Much?

Electoral bonds are financial instruments that allow individuals and/or businesses to make anonymous donations to political parties. They were introduced by the BJP-led central government in 2018 as an alternative to cash donations and were pitched as an initiative to make political funding clean.

According to Election Commission data, 28,030 electoral bonds worth Rs 16,437.63 crore were sold between 2016 and 2022, with the BJP raking in over Rs 10,000 crore from that amount.

READ | Election Bonds Worth Rs 16,000 Crore Sold Till 2022. Who Got How Much

The party that got the next highest was the Congress, with less than Rs 1,600 crore.

In fact, donations to the BJP were thrice more than that given to the 30 other on the list.

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