Electoral bonds: Election commission releases data. Which party received how much? 10 points

While the BJP received the maximum funds through electoral bonds at ₹6,986.5 crore, Future Gaming and Hotel Services donated ₹509 crore to the DMK.

The Election Commission of India on Sunday released data received from political parties on electoral bonds, which it had given to the Supreme Court in sealed covers, following a directive from the apex court to make it available to the public. These details are believed to be pertaining to the period before April 12, 2019.

The Election Commission of India made data received from political parties on electoral bonds public on Sunday. (REUTERS)

The election commission's data showed while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre received the maximum funds through these bonds at ₹6,986.5 crore since they were introduced in 2018, Future Gaming and Hotel Services – the top purchaser of electoral bonds – donated ₹509 crore to Tamil Nadu's ruling party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam through the now-scrapped payment mode.

The disclosure is part of the data dump about a total of 523 recognised and non-recognised political parties made public by the EC on the Supreme Court's directives. This followed another dataset published by the poll panel last week based on the information submitted by the State Bank of India (SBI), the sole bank authorised to sell and redeem electoral bonds.

Electoral bonds: Key points from election panel's data

1. Future Gaming, linked to Santiago Martin under the Enforcement Directorate scrutiny, contributed over 77 per cent of the ₹656.5 crore electoral bond receipts disclosed by the DMK.
2. The beneficiaries of the remaining ₹859 crore worth of bonds purchased by Future Gaming remain undisclosed due to incomplete donor information from most political parties.
3. The BJP leads in funds received since the introduction of electoral bonds in 2018, totalling ₹6,986.5 crore.
4. The Trinamool Congress of West Bengal follows with ₹1,397 crore, then the Congress with ₹1,334 crore, and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi with ₹1,322 crore, according to the latest data from the poll commission.
5. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) of Odisha ranks fifth, having received ₹944.5 crore, trailed by the DMK at ₹656.5 crore, and YSR Congress of Andhra Pradesh at nearly ₹442.8 crore.
6. The Samajwadi Party of Akhilesh Yadav disclosed total donations of ₹10.84 crore, including 10 bonds worth ₹10 crore received anonymously “by post.”
7. While the DMK has revealed donor identities, major parties such as the BJP, Congress, and TMC have not fully disclosed this information to the EC, now made public due to a Supreme Court directive.
8. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) redeemed bonds totaling ₹181.35 crore, Shiv Sena ₹130.38 crore, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ₹56 crore, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ₹50.51 crore, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha ₹15.5 crore, Samajwadi Party (SP) ₹14.05 crore, Akali Dal ₹7.26 crore, AIADMK ₹6.05 crore, National Conference (NC) ₹50 lakh from the Bharti Group, and Sikkim Democratic Front ₹50 lakh.
9. The AAP did not provide a consolidated donation figure, but SBI's records indicate it received ₹65.45 crore. After accounting for another ₹3.55 crore post-filing with the EC, the total sum received by AAP stands at ₹69 crore.
10. The latest data set released by the EC contains scanned copies of disclosures made by political parties, spanning hundreds of pages.

    (With inputs from agencies)