The Election Commission of India has finally disclosed the Electoral Bonds data ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Following a directive from the Supreme Court, the State Bank of India (SBI) shared the information with the ECI on March 12 and submitted an affidavit to the apex court on March 13.
The Supreme Court had instructed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to publish the data on its website by March 15. As per SBI’s information provided on March 13, a total of 22,217 electoral bonds were issued between April 2019 and February 15, 2024.
Out of these, political parties redeemed 22,030 bonds, while the remaining 187 were redeemed, and the proceeds were deposited into the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.
Home Minister Amit Shah has now responded to the BJP receiving the highest funds. Shah expressed his full respect for the Supreme Court’s decision but suggested that instead of entirely abolishing electoral bonds, they could have been improved. He also reiterated that the purpose of introducing electoral bonds was to curb the influence of black money in Indian politics.
List of Top 10 Donors to Political Parties
Name of the Donor | Amount (INR) |
---|---|
Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR | Rs. 1368 crore |
Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd | Rs. 966 crore |
Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd | Rs. 410 crore |
Vedanta Ltd | Rs. 400 crore |
Haldia Energy Ltd | Rs. 377 crore |
Bharti Group | Rs. 247 crore |
Essel Mining & Industries Ltd | Rs. 224 crore |
Western UP Power Transmission Company Ltd | Rs. 220 crore |
Keventer Foodpark Infra Ltd | Rs. 195 crore |
Madanlal Ltd | RS. 185 crore |
What Is An Electoral Bond?
Electoral bonds serve as financial instruments similar to promissory notes. They are purchasable by both companies and individuals in India through the State Bank of India (SBI) and can be contributed to a political party, enabling them to redeem these bonds.
(A promissory note is a legal document wherein one party commits in writing to pay a specified sum of money to another party, either at a predetermined future date, on demand of the payee or under specific terms and conditions.)
The Electoral Bonds Scheme was initiated in 2018 to purify political financing in India. Its primary objective was to foster transparency in the country’s electoral funding process.
Electoral Bonds can solely be redeemed in the specified account of a registered political party. Eligibility for receiving Electoral Bonds is limited to political parties registered under Section 29A of the RPA 1951 Act, provided they have secured at least 1% of the votes polled in the most recent General Election to the Lok Sabha or the State Legislative Assembly.
Electoral Bonds Case in 7 Simple Points
- On February 15, the Supreme Court scrapped the Centre’s electoral bonds scheme that allowed anonymous political funding, calling it “unconstitutional.” After which it ordered disclosure of donors and the amount donated by them, and recipients.
- The State Bank of India sought time till June 30 to disclose the details, but the plea was rejected by the Supreme Court. SBI was ordered to share the details of Electoral Bonds with the Election Commission by March 12, 2024.
- In a surprising turn of events, Adish C Aggarwala, the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), penned a letter to President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday. In the letter, he urged her to request a presidential reference regarding the judgment of the Supreme Court in the electoral bonds scheme case.
- Supreme Court of India ordered the Election Commission of India to upload the details shared by the SBI on the website of the Election Commission of India.
- The Election Commission followed the orders of the Supreme Court and has finally uploaded the details of Electoral Bonds on the official website.
- The data released by the Election Commission of India states that the BJP got close to 50% of the total funds from the electoral bonds. However, the Indian National Congress, which is considered the directed opposition of the BJP, got 11% of the funds.
- As per the data, the BJP has gotten the maximum funds of over ₹6,000 crores, followed by the Trinamool Congress of ₹1,610 crores, the Congress of ₹1,422 crores, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) of ₹1,215 crores, and the Naveen Patnaik-led BJP of ₹776 crores.
What is so much to cry on electoral bonds anyone can donate to any party he / she likes and naturally as per likes donation been done, so why so much cry?? ..
This is free India Right?
If I am wrong please explain