Ashok Gehlot was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the new building of the Rajasthan High Court
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday in a candid talk spoke on the growing corruption in the country and questioned how can a government formed with black money free the country from clutches of corruption when all political games played in India depend completely on black money collected via bond, cheques or cash.
Corruption in the nation can never stop until the funding of black money (number do ka paisa) to political parties is stopped, he said.
Gehlot was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the new building of the Rajasthan High Court in Jodhpur on Saturday in the presence of the President, the Chief Justice of India, Law Minister and a large number of judges of the Supreme Court.
Speaking on the occasion, he said, "it is a wonderful occasion when President and CJI are present here, hence I would like to request everyone to consider how transparency can be brought to the donations received by political parties."
He urged the judges of the Supreme Court to look into the matter.
"I want Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance in this matter, and today when the entire law machinery is here, I am raising this issue," he added.
"I have been in politics for the last 45 years and am well aware of how journey of a politician starts. Their election campaign starts with black money," Gehlot said.
"Now, how can such people eradicate corruption from the country when politicians have been winning elections with black money"? he questioned.
Political parties are getting funded with bonds which is a big scandal in itself. All political parties collect donation which is nothing but black money, he said further.
"Hence the initial process of forming the government starts with black money. Whatever donation political parties receive comes from black money. I am not talking about any one political party. In fact, all parties are involved in this," the Chief Minister said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)