Electoral Bonds: Top 5 parties have not disclosed details of donors; data available for only 6% donors

The new data uploaded by the Election Commission on electoral bonds on Sunday showed that the five major recipients -- Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Trinamool, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, and Biju Janata Dal -- did not disclose any details about their donors, despite accounting for 87% of the Electoral Bond funds. The data uploaded by the EC had been submitted to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover by the State Bank of India. 

Parties that did not provide any details made up over 94% of the total amount raised through electoral bonds, while only a small fraction, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Goa Forward Party, fully disclosed their donors.

The Supreme Court questioned the State Bank of India (SBI) about the lack of details regarding the unique numbers of each bond, which would facilitate matching donors with recipients. However, the timing of when this data will be released remains uncertain, with the apex court set to hear from SBI on Monday.

BJP the largest beneficiary

The data provided by the Election Commission offered a comprehensive overview of the funds received by each political party through Electoral Bonds since the inception of the scheme. The BJP emerged as the largest beneficiary, receiving a staggering Rs 8,251 crore, surpassing the combined total of all other parties. The Indian National Congress followed with Rs 1,952 crore, while Trinamool Congress received Rs 1,717 crore, establishing a significant gap between the top recipients and the rest.

Several other parties, including the Janata Dal (Secular), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Aam Aadmi Party, Nationalist Congress Party, Janata Dal (United), and Samajwadi Party, disclosed partial details of their donors for the period between January and May 2019. However, discrepancies arose as some donors were omitted from the disclosed information, raising questions about the integrity of the reporting process.

Justifications

Various reasons were cited by political parties for their failure to provide complete donor details. The BJP justified its stance by stating that the Electoral Bonds scheme was designed to ensure donor anonymity, while the Congress refrained from offering any explanation. The Nationalist Congress Party claimed a lack of record-keeping for individual donors, though it pledged to provide details wherever possible. Similarly, parties like Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal also omitted certain donor information in their disclosures.

Additionally, several parties received significant donations from entities based in states where they have minimal presence. The disclosure of this information has raised further anticipation for comprehensive transparency once SBI releases details of the alphanumeric codes assigned to each electoral bond.

• Accountability
• Alphanumeric codes
• Anonymity
• BJP
• Bharatiya Janata Party
• Congress
• DMK
• Disclosure
• Donor details
• Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
• Election Commission
• Electoral bonds
• Funding
• Goa Forward Party
• Janata Dal-Secular
• Lok Sabha Elections 2024
• Political parties
• Rashtriya Janata Dal
• Record-keeping
• SBI
• State Bank of India
• Supreme Court
• Transparency
• Trinamool Congress