Ruling party at the Centre BJP received the maximum funds through electoral bonds worth `6,986.5 crore with maximum of `2,555 crore in 2019-20 since they were introduced in 2018, followed by West Bengal’s ruling party Trinamool Congress (`1,397 crore), Congress (`1,334 crore) and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), now known as Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) (`1,322 crore).
The latest data released by Election Commission on Sunday shows BRS got `230.65 crore in bonds from 2018 to 2019. Odisha’s ruling party BJD was the fourth largest recipient at `944.5 crore.
Days after releasing the details of electoral bonds donors, the EC released data received from political parties on electoral bonds, which it had given to the Supreme Court in sealed covers.
The latest documents released by the Nirvachan Sadan only show raw data of the date of the bonds, denominations, number of bonds, issuing State Bank of India (SBI) branch, date of receipt, and date of credit.
It does not disclose the unique numbers of the bonds.
Top purchaser of electoral bonds Future Gaming and Hotel Services donated `509 crore to Tamil Nadu’s ruling party DMK through the now-scrapped payment mode.
The donations given by Future Gaming, whose owner, “lottery king” Santiago Martin, has been under the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) scanner, accounted for more than 77 per cent of the total receipts from electoral bonds of `656.5 crore disclosed by the DMK.
Since most political parties have not disclosed the names of the donors, it was not known who were the beneficiaries of the balance Rs 859 crore worth bonds purchased by Future Gaming. Other major donors of the DMK included Megha Engineering Rs 105 crore, India Cements Rs 14 crore and Sun TV Rs 100 crore.
Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) encashed electoral bonds worth Rs 944.50 crore, followed by Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress (Rs 442.80 crore), and N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party or TDP (Rs 181.35 crore).
The JD(S) received bonds worth Rs 89.75 crore, including Rs 50 crore from Megha Engineering, the second largest purchaser of electoral bonds, Shiv Sena Rs 60.4 crore, RJD 56 crore, Samajwadi Party got Rs 14.05 crore via electoral bonds, Akali Dal Rs 7.26 crore, AIADMK Rs 6.05 crore, National Conference Rs 50 lakh.
The DMK was among the few political parties to disclose the identity of the donors, while major parties such as the BJP, Congress, TMC and AAP did not disclose these details to the Election Commission, which has now made public those filing as per a Supreme Court order.
While the AAP did not give a cumulative figure of its donations, the SBI’s data showed it had received Rs 65.45 crore, while it is estimated to have received another Rs 3.55 crore after its filing with the EC, taking its total to Rs 69 crore.
Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, which is a recognised national party, has told the Commission that it did not receive any funding through electoral bonds since the inception of the scheme.
The disclosure is part of the data dump pertaining to a total of 523 recognised and unrecognised political parties made public by the EC on the Supreme Court’s orders.
While most political parties have only mentioned a date-wise listing of value of EBs they encashed, ten among the recognised parties -- DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), ADMK (All India Anna Diavida Munnettia Kazhagam), SDF (Sikkim Democratic Front), JDS (Janata Dal Secular), JKNC (Jammu and Kashmir National Conference), Maharashtrawadi Gomtak Party - Goa (MGP Goa), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Samajwadi Party, National Congress Party (NCP), Janata Dal (United) -- have included the names of donors and the amounts they contributed.
A total of 519 parties have submitted their declarations to the Election Commission. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was among the parties that are yet to file their declaration. Apollo Group, India Cements, Ramco Cements and Triveni are among the top donors.
In the case of rival ADMK, the party received a total of Rs 6.05 crore in EBs out of which Rs 5 crore came from Chennai Super Kings. Lakshmi Machine Works was the other top donor to ADMK. JDS has received Rs 50 crore from MEIL and Rs 22 crore from Embassy Group.
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference has received Rs 50 lakh from Bharti Group, SDF has received donations worth Rs 50 lakh from Alembic Pharma. MGP Goa has received Rs 1.25 crore from VM Salgaoncar and Brothers, a company based in Vasco Da Gama. Sikkim Democratic Front had said it has received Rs 20 lakh EBs from Alembic Pharmaceuticals Ltd on October 12, 2018.
San Beverages, SK Traders, and BS Traders emerge as top donors to the Samajwadi Party, issuing electoral bonds from April 4 to May 7, 2019. JDU disclosed Bharti Airtel and Shree Cement as donors, contributing a total of Rs 3 crore. In 2019, Aam Aadmi Party received Rs 3 crore from Bajaj Group and Rs 1 crore from Torrent Pharmaceuticals.
These details are believed to be for the period before April 12, 2019. Electoral bond details after this date was made public by the EC last week. Among the major parties that have disclosed the identity of their donors, the AIADMK got most of its donations from India Cements-owned IPL cricket team Chennai Super Kings, while the contributors to the JD(S) included the Aditya Birla Group, Infosys, the JSW Group and the Embassy Group.
The CPI(M), has declared that it will not receive funds through electoral bonds, while filings made by the AJSU party, National People’s Party, All India NR Congress Puducherry, DMDK, Bodoland People’s Front, Asom Gana Parishad, Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference, Kerala Congress (M), AIMIM and BSP showed nil receipts.
Electoral bonds have been a key method of political funding, allowing donors to give anonymously through certificates purchased from SBI. But last month the Supreme Court struck down the scheme as unconstitutional, saying it violated the right of voters to know who was financing parties.
