National News

“Independent Journalist” Poonam Agarwal Makes Fake Claims On SBI Electoral Bonds; TNM, Wire Peddle Same Propaganda; Says Foggy Memory Due To COVID When Confronted With Truth

March 19, 2024
The Commune

Independent “journalist” Poonam Agarwal who was associated earlier with NDTV and The Quint published an “investigation” on the electoral bonds and claimed there was no tracking number attached to it. 

The Wire put out an entire article, The News Minute carried out interviews of the said journalist, and the leftist media based their narrative solely on Poonam’s claims. 

What Did Poonam Claim?

In her articles and interviews, Poonam claimed that the SBI was sharing misleading information on Electoral Bonds as the purchase dates were not matching. She said she bought 2 Electoral Bonds of ₹1,000 each in April 2018. But the data showed her name as a purchaser of electoral bonds dated 20 Oct 2020. She wondered if this was an error, inaccuracy or a namesake had purchased the bond. She claimed a unique hidden number in the data would’ve cleared doubts.

This post of hers was quoted by leftists, picked up by TNM and The Wire which even ran an article on it. The article is now deleted. 

It has come to light now that Poonam was lying. Netizens dug through her old videos on The Quint and found that she had indeed bought the bonds in 2020. When confronted, she claimed a “foggy memory” due to COVID!

This fake post is still there on her profile on X at the time of publishing this article. Her clarification post however has much lesser views compared to her fake post!

The outlets which peddled this misinformation did not put out any clarification for peddling her claims. The Wire retracted its story silently stating the claims made by the journalist were not substantiated. It is noteworthy that The Wire ran several fake articles that attacked the BJP only to silently delete them when found fake. 

Poonam deleted the video where she alleged discrepancies in the electoral bonds as well from her YouTube channel. 

SC Hearing Busted All Her Claims

In a Supreme Court hearing on electoral bonds on 18 March 2024, the SBI made a significant revelation. Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing the SBI, disclosed that the bond numbers assigned by the banks are exclusively found on the bonds themselves and not elsewhere.

When questioned about the purpose of these bond numbers, whether they serve as a security measure or as part of an audit trail, the bank clarified that the primary function of the bond numbers is for security purposes. They distinguished that the audit trail serves a separate function.

Harish Salve’s submissions for SBI debunked leftist conspiracy theories, particularly those propagated by Poonam Agarwal. SBI clarified that the unique alphanumeric codes on bonds, visible under UV light, serve as a security measure, not for auditing. The revelation refutes claims by Poonam that these codes could link donors to political parties. Leftist circles lauded Poonam’s report, which alleged government surveillance using these codes, yet faced criticism. Poonam also suggested that the government tracked bond purchases. 

Poonam alleged that hidden codes on electoral bonds breached donor anonymity, implying government surveillance. She dismissed the codes as unnecessary for security, refuted by SBI’s claim that they’re solely for security and unrecorded, akin to serial numbers on currency notes. While SBI might release bond numbers if pressed by the Supreme Court, linking them to donors appears unlikely. 

Subscribe to our channels on Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally