The Election Commission on Sunday disclosed fresh data on electoral bonds to public which reveals that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party received Rs 6,986.5 crore through the scheme.
This data is believed to have details of the donations before April 12, 2019 and was earlier submitted in sealed covers to the Supreme Court and was later asked to be put out to public domain.
Electoral Bond Data: Who received what?
Top 5 political parties with maximum bonds received
1. The BJP received the maximum funds through these bonds at Rs 6,986.5 crore
2. West Bengal's ruling party Trinamool Congress comes second with Rs 1,397 crore
3. Meanwhile Congress received Rs 1,334 crore
4. Bharat Rashtra Samithi was the recipient of Rs 1,322 crore
5. Odisha's ruling party BJD received Rs 944.5 crore
Other political parties with big numbers include DMK at Rs 656.5 crore who received Rs 105 crore from Megha Engineering, Rs 14 crore from India Cements and Rs 100 crore from Sun TV.
Andhra Pradesh's ruling party YSR Congress redeemed bonds worth nearly Rs 442.8 crore.
The JD(S) received bonds worth Rs 89.75 crore, including Rs 50 crore from Megha Engineering, the second largest purchaser of electoral bonds.
Future Gaming of lottery king Santiago Martin was the biggest purchaser of electoral bonds at Rs 1,368 crore, of which nearly 37 per cent went to the DMK.
The Election Commission stated that political parties have submitted information regarding Electoral Bonds in a sealed envelope, as per the instructions of the Supreme Court's temporary order issued on April 12, 2019.
"Data so received from political parties was deposited in the Supreme Court without opening sealed covers. In pursuance of the Supreme Court's order dated March 15, 2024, the Registry of the Supreme Court has returned physical copies along with a digitized record of the same in a pen drive in sealed cover. The Election Commission of India has today uploaded the data received in the digitized form from the registry of the Supreme Court on electoral bonds on its website," EC said.
Electoral bond details after April 12, 2019 was made public by the poll panel last week.
