According to the data, BJP received the maximum funds via electoral bonds between April 12, 2019, and 15 February 2024.
Electoral Bond Issue: Parakala Prabhakar, the renowned economist and former spokesperson of the Andhra Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has, in his prediction, said that the “Electoral bond issue” will cost the ruling BJP heavily.
“The electoral bond issue will gain much more momentum than what it is today. Everybody is now understanding that it is not only the c. Because of this issue, this government will be severely punished by the electorate,” said Parakala Prabhakar, the husband of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while talking to Reporter.
After the orders of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission of India (ECI) uploaded the data of the Electoral Bonds on its official website according to which, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP has been the major beneficiary of the electoral bonds.
According to the data, BJP received the maximum funds via electoral bonds at Rs 6,986.5 crore between April 12, 2019, and 15 February 2024, followed by West Bengal’s ruling party Trinamool Congress (TMC) which received Rs 1,397 crore, Congress which received Rs 1,334 crore, and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) which received Rs 1,322 crore.
In February, the Supreme Court quashed the Electoral Bond Scheme that was started by the Central Government. It allowed anonymous funding to political parties. The court ordered the State Bank of India (SBI) to stop issuing Electoral Bonds with immediate effect.
According to civil society activists, 41 companies facing probe by the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, and the I-T Department gave Rs 2,471 crore to the BJP through electoral bonds, and Rs 1,698 crore of it was donated after raids by these agencies, says Mint.
“Future Gaming gave Rs 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 Rs 5 crore to the BJP within three months of the ED raid on November 10, 2022,” said senior advocate Prashant Bhushan a few days back.
Following the revelations, opposition parties dubbed the electoral bonds as “legalised corruption” while the BJP said that cancelling electoral bonds could lead to the return of black money in politics.
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