Electoral Bonds Scam: BJP took 8251 Crore donation via Electoral Bonds

As earlier, the State Bank of India (SBI) ignored the Supreme Court’s order to publish Electoral Bonds data within a given date by promising to release those data after 120 days (till 30th June, 2024), which is after the scheduled Lok Sabha Election of 2024. But Later Supreme Court asked SBI to release those data within 12th March, 2024 by end of business hours.

In the latest revelations by the Election Commission of India, it has been unveiled that since the initiation of the electoral bonds scheme in March 2018 until its recent condemnation by the Supreme Court, political parties have garnered substantial funds through this opaque financing mechanism.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerges as the primary beneficiary, with a staggering sum of Rs 8,251.8 crore redeemed through electoral bonds out of the total Rs 16,518 crore sold. This amounts to nearly 50% of all bonds sold, showcasing the significant financial advantage the BJP has garnered through this scheme.

However, amidst these revelations, BJP leaders have been accused of disseminating misleading information regarding the extent of their gains from the electoral bonds scheme. Delhi BJP leader R.P. Singh, in an interview with ANI, purported false data, claiming that out of a total of Rs 20,000 crore worth of electoral bonds, the BJP received only Rs 6,000 crore, attributing a larger share to opposition parties. These claims were echoed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his address at the India Today Conclave, further perpetuating the misinformation.

Meanwhile data published on Election Commission of India’s website, there’s two sets of data where the first set of data is for list of donors and second set of data is for list of Political Parties who took donation from Electoral Bonds. Here’s over all data diagram of ECI data: