57% vs 10%: BJP vs Congress share in electoral bond funds

A five-judge Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud Tuesday began hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the validity of the electoral bonds scheme for funding political parties, including those filed by Congress leader Jaya Thakur, the CPI(M) and the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms.

Under the scheme, notified by the Narendra Modi government on January 2, 2018, electoral bonds may be purchased by any citizen of India or entity incorporated or established in India. An individual can buy electoral bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals.

It was pitched as an alternative to cash donations and as a way to increase transparency in political funding. In the period between 2017-2018 and 2021-2022, electoral bonds worth Rs 9,208.23 crore were sold, according to State Bank of India data obtained by The Indian Express through RTI.

An analysis of the annual audited account statements submitted by the parties to the EC puts the worth of the contributions via bonds to the BJP at Rs 5,271.97 crore, from 2017-2018 till 2021-2022.

Regional parties in power in states are also big recipients of electoral bonds funds, with the Trinamool Congress that has been in government in West Bengal since 2011 declaring contributions worth Rs 767.88 crore over the years, putting it third after the BJP and Congress.

In the period between 2017-2018 and 2021-2022, electoral bonds worth Rs 9,208.23 crore were sold.

The ruling Biju Janata Dal in Odisha declared Rs 622 crore in electoral bonds between 2018-2019 and 2021-2022; the party that has ruled the state since 2000 did not declare any contributions via electoral bonds in the first year of the scheme.

The DMK, which is in power in Tamil Nadu since 2021, declared contributions of Rs 431.50 crore in three years from 2019-2020 to 2021-2022; it did not have any electoral bond contributions in its statements for the previous two FYs.

The Aam Aadmi Party, which is in power in Delhi and Punjab and recently became a national party, declared receiving contributions of Rs 48.83 crore over the years in the category of “electoral bond / electoral trust”. There is no clarity on how much of that amount is via bonds alone.

The JD(U), which has been in power in Bihar for several years now, as head of different coalitions, declared a total of Rs 24.40 crore via electoral bonds from 2019-2020 to 2021-2022.

Among the non-ruling parties, the contribution received by the NCP via electoral bonds was among the highest, at Rs 51.5 crore.

The CPI, CPI(M), BSP and National People’s Party (the ruling party in Meghalaya) told the Election Commission that they had got no contributions through electoral bonds.