Scrap electoral bonds, bring law to regulate political parties: Chhokar

The founder-member of ADR says electoral bonds reduce transparency in political funding

Jagdeep Chhokar, founder-member of the Association for Democratic Reforms and former professor at Indian Institute of Management, says there should be a law to regulate the functioning of political parties. In an interview to Sahil Makkar, he says the government must scrap the idea of floating electoral bonds as it reduces transparency in political funding. Edited excerpts:

On his last day in office, former chief election commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi expressed reservations about political funding. What are your views?

The Budget speech and post-Budget briefings suggested that electoral bonds would reduce transparency and increase opacity in political funding. The scheme is