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HomeExplainersElectoral Bonds Data: BJP, TMC Silent On Donor Names, AAP, DMK, AIADMK, JD(S) Reveal Details
While BJP in its letter stated a list of legislations which exempted political parties from maintaining data on electoral bonds scheme, a few parties submitted names of donors in fresh ECI data
By : Nupur Dogra|Updated at : 18 Mar 2024 10:03 AM (IST)
Notably, except for DMK, no other party that has disclosed names of donors which includes SP, AAP and NCP have issued any clarification on how they obtained data on donors. ( Image Source :ECI )
The Election Commission Of India (ECI) on Sunday uploaded on its website documents received from political parties regarding receipts and redemption of Electoral Bonds under the now scrapped electoral bonds scheme. The extensive data submitted by political parties shows great discrepancies on how they maintained information on donors. This information was furnished by political parties in sealed covers to the ECI on directions issued by the Supreme Court.
While BJP in its letter stated a list of laws which exempted political parties from maintaining data on electoral bonds scheme, DMK, AIADMK, AAP, Janata Dal (Secular), and Samajwadi Party submitted names of donors along with the amount donated to the parties through the electoral bonds scheme. Notably, except for DMK, no other party that has disclosed names of donors which includes SP, AAP and NCP have issued any clarification on how they obtained data on donors.
The BJP encashed electoral bonds worth Rs 6,986.5 crore between April 2019 to September 2023. The electoral bonds scheme was introduced in 2018. The Supreme Court by an interim order had asked ECI to maintain data on electoral bonds received by political parties from April 2019.
At present, the Supreme Court has directed the disclosure of the electoral bonds sold between the period April 12, 2019, till February 15, 2024. Today's data is from political parties from April 2019 to September 2023. Last week, ECI made public the data SBI submitted in two separate lists. One with name of donors and date and amount of donors and another with bonds redeemed by political parties. However, due to no serial number, it could not be said who donated to whom.
BJP in its submission to ECI said, "It is duly submitted that the Electoral Bonds were introduced with the aim of bringing only accounted for funds in political funding while protecting the donors from any consequences, therefrom. We hope that the information submitted herein meets your requirement. Should the commission need any other information or clarification, we shall be happy to provide. "
Trinamool Congress (TMC) which has emerged as the second largest receiver of donations from electoral bonds after BJP has also not disclosed names of donors. The Mamata Banerjee led party got nearly Rs 1397 crores from Electoral Bonds between April 2019 to September 2023.
Congress on the other hand attached a letter it wrote to the State Bank Of India (SBI) to furnish on its behalf details of the donors to the party to ECI in a sealed cover. The Congress party redeemed a total of Rs 1,334.35 crore through electoral bonds and is the third largest recipient of the electoral bonds.
The DMK which has emerged as one of the recipient of donation from Future Gaming and Services which is also one of the largest donor in the scheme has submitted an explaination on how they got information from donors:
"Format of Application for Issue of Electoral Bonds which is Annexure II of the above Scheme 2018 discloses that the details of the donors under the scheme have to be kept confidential by the authorised bank. The scheme also does not require the details of the donor to be furnished to the donee. Under these circ*mstances the donors did not strictly adhere to the requirement of furnishing their details whenever they handed over the electoral bonds to us. Be that as it may, following the directions of Hon'ble Supreme Court, we contacted our donors and we were able to collect the details from them."
ALSO READ | Curious Case Of Rs 1000 Electoral Bonds Purchased By Big Corporate Donors Like ITC
As per data, MK Stalin led DMK got over Rs 500 crores as anonymous donations from Santiago Martin's lottery-selling firm, Future Gaming. Another major donor to DMK is Megha Engineering with over Rs 105 crores as donation. (Check screengrab from list below.)
In the case of AIADMK, Chennai Super Kings has given Rs 5 crore as donation to the party out of the total Rs 6.05 crore the party got from electoral bonds. Lakshmi Machine Works emerged as another significant donor to party. (See screengrab from AIADMK Data).
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also disclosed a list of donors. KMZ investments, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Bajaj Group are some of the prominent names on the list of donors to AAP. The party has disclosed names of the donors of electoral bonds worth Rs 5.75 crores received by the party between April 23, 2018 to May 25, 2019. As of now, from the current list, Bajaj Group has emerged as the largest donor to AAP.
Other parties that have disclosed the list of donors include SDF (Sikkim Democratic Front), JD (Secular), JKNC (Jammu and Kashmir National Conference), Maharashtrawadi Gomtak Party, National Congress Party (NCP).
As per data on donors submitted by NCP, the party got significant donations from Cyrus Poonawala, Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Finserv. (See screengrab from list below)
The Janata Dal (Secular) got total Rs 89,75,00,000 from electoral bonds till From April 2019 to September 2023. Notably, Megha Engneering has also donated to the party. Other big names include JSW Steel, BICON Ltd, Aditya Birla Group and Infosys. (See screengrabs from list below.)
ALSO READ | Biocon Chief Issues Clarification Over Electoral Bonds, Says Donation To JDS Was At 'Personal Level'
Janata Dal United and Telegu Desam Party (TDP) also issued there lists but said that they did not maintain data on donors in electoral bonds scheme. JDU in its 2019 submission said that they are not aware about details of donors. "Somebody came to our office on 03-04-2019 at Patna and handed over a sealed envelop and when it was opened we found a bunch containing 10 electoral bonds of Rs one crore each..."(See screengrab from there lists below)
Published at : 17 Mar 2024 08:35 PM (IST)
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AIADMK Election Commission Of India Explainers TMC AAP BJP JD(S) DMK ABP Premium Electoral Bonds Data Political Parties ECI Data
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