Between Mar 2018 and Jan 2024, BJP redeemed 50% of bond donations

The BJP benefited the most ahead of the 2019 elections as it redeemed 68% ( ₹3,963 crore) of all bonds redeemed

Updated on: Mar 18, 2024, 01:01:52 IST

By Abhishek Jha, Aditi Agrawal

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NEW DELHI Electoral bonds worth ₹16,492 crore were redeemed in the thirty phases of their sale between March 1, 2018 and January 11, 2024 and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) redeemed 50% of them at ₹8,252 crore, according to data published by the Election Commission of India on March 14 and March 17.

The year the scheme was launched (FY18), only three parties got electoral bond donations: the BJP (95%), Congress (2.3%) and JD(S) (2.7%). The BJP thus received the biggest fillip ahead of the 2019 general elections. (Tharun Vinny)

The Congress accounted for 11.8% ( ₹1,952 crore) while the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) accounted for 10.4% ( ₹1,708 crore). The year the scheme was launched (FY18), only three parties got electoral bond donations: the BJP (95%), Congress (2.3%) and JD(S) (2.7%). The BJP thus received the biggest fillip ahead of the 2019 general elections.

The Lok Sabha elections were announced on March 10, 2019 and were held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19. Until May 10, electoral bonds had been sold in 10 tranches across 110 days. Parties redeemed bonds purchased in the last tranche before the elections ended up to May 22 because bonds could be redeemed 15 days from the date of issue. From the inception of the scheme up to May 22, 2019, the total value of bonds redeemed by parties was ₹5,831 crore.

The BJP benefited the most ahead of the 2019 elections as it redeemed 68% ( ₹3,963 crore) of all bonds redeemed. The Congress redeemed 12% ( ₹698 crore), and the TMC redeemed 2.6% ( ₹150 crore).

Between FY18 and FY20, the TMC encashed less money through electoral bonds than the Congress but every year since then until FY23, the TMC encashed more than double the electoral bonds that the Congress did. The TMC ceased to be a national party in April 2023 but it still accounted for 13.6% ( ₹612 crore) of all bonds redeemed in FY24 while the BJP and the Congress accounted for 37.4% ( ₹1,686 crore) and 18.4% ( ₹828 crore), respectively.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abhishek Jha
Abhishek Jha is Assistant Editor-Data at Hindustan Times. He uses statistical programming to generate newsworthy insights from large datasets. He is part of the team that produces Number Theory, a daily data story feature of the paper’s print edition. Since March 2024, he has been writing Weather Bee, a weekly column for the Hindustan Times website. He is a chemical engineer by training, who specialises in stories related to weather, climate, and the environment. Jha has been at HT since 2018, where he offers data-driven perspective and analysis on politics, environment, weather, climate, economy and society. His work includes data coverage of elections in India and abroad, including the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections; the disasters and extreme weather resulting from changing climate, such as floods, droughts, heat waves, cold waves, and dwindling snow cap in the Himalayas; the factors that drive poor air quality in northern India; the changing patterns of land use; the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on labour market conditions; the changing pattern of consumer spending seen in the new consumer spending surveys; and social norms seen in the surveys such as the National Family Health Survey.Read More
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aditi Agrawal
Aditi covers technology policy, online free speech, privacy, cybersecurity, and surveillance.