NEW DELHI (TIP): The Bharatiya Janata Party remains the major beneficiary of electoral bonds. The saffron party received the maximum funds through electoral bonds at ₹6,986.5 crore.
(Read Unveiling the Electoral Bonds Scam on page 2 )
The Supreme Court, in a ruling in February, struck down Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Centre’s Electoral Bond Scheme, which allowed for anonymous funding to political parties.
Renowned economist Parakala Prabhakar has projected that the “electoral bond issue” will cost the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) heavily. Prabhakar, the husband of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, told news channel Reporter TV, “The electoral bond issue will gain much more momentum than what it is today. Everybody is now understanding that it is not only the biggest scam in India but is the biggest scam in the world. Because of this issue, this government will be severely punished by the electorate”.
The BJP has remained the major beneficiary of the electoral bonds as per the data available on the official website of the Election Commission of India.
The BJP received the maximum funds via electoral bonds at ₹6,986.5 crore between April 12, 2019, and February 15, 2024, followed by West Bengal’s ruling party Trinamool Congress ( ₹1,397 crore), Congress ( ₹1,334 crore), and Bharat Rashtra Samithi ( ₹1,322 crore).
Many companies that faced regulatory action from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or Income Tax (IT) Department donated electoral bonds worth crores of rupees to ruling parties, show data submitted by the State Bank of India (SBI) to the Election Commission of India (ECI). Some companies which got huge government contracts purchased bonds for large amounts. Some new companies, which were incorporated during the COVID-19 pandemic, purchased bonds worth crores of rupees just months after starting out. Was the electoral bonds scheme used as an extortion tool?
According to civil society activists, 41 companies facing probe by the CBI, ED, and the income tax department gave ₹2,471 crore to the BJP through electoral bonds, and ₹1,698 crore of it was donated after raids by these agencies.
“Future Gaming gave ₹60 crore to the BJP within three months of I-T and ED raids on November 12, 2023, and December 1, 2021, respectively. Aurobindo Pharma gave ₹5 crore to the BJP within three months of the ED raid on November 10, 2022,” senior advocate Prashant Bhushan said last week.
After the disclosures, the opposition parties have dubbed the electoral bonds as legalized corruption, while the BJP has said scrapping the bonds could lead to the return of black money in politics.
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