The Election Commission
The Election Commission of India unveiled information obtained from political parties regarding electoral bonds, as mandated by the Supreme Court. These details are believed to pertain to transactions preceding April 12, 2019.
According to the commission’s data, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received the highest amount through electoral bonds since their introduction in 2018, totaling ₹6,986.5 crore. Notably, Future Gaming and Hotel Services emerged as the primary purchaser of these bonds, contributing ₹509 crore to Tamil Nadu’s ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), through this now-defunct payment mechanism.
Key points from the election panel’s data on electoral bonds include the significant contribution by Future Gaming, associated with Santiago Martin under the Enforcement Directorate’s scrutiny, constituting over 77% of the disclosed ₹656.5 crore received by the DMK. However, the beneficiaries of the remaining ₹859 crore worth of bonds purchased by Future Gaming remain undisclosed due to incomplete donor information from most political parties.
Apart from the BJP, other major beneficiaries since the inception of electoral bonds include the Trinamool Congress of West Bengal with ₹1,397 crore, followed by the Congress with ₹1,334 crore, and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi with ₹1,322 crore. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) of Odisha ranks fifth, having received ₹944.5 crore, followed by the DMK at ₹656.5 crore and YSR Congress of Andhra Pradesh at nearly ₹442.8 crore.
While some parties like the DMK have disclosed donor identities, others such as the BJP, Congress, and TMC have not fully revealed this information, now made public due to a Supreme Court directive.
Additionally, various parties redeemed electoral bonds, including the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Shiv Sena, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, Samajwadi Party (SP), Akali Dal, AIADMK, National Conference (NC), and Sikkim Democratic Front.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), while not providing a consolidated donation figure, received ₹65.45 crore as per SBI records. After additional disclosures post-filing with the EC, the total sum received by AAP amounts to ₹69 crore.
The EC’s latest data release encompasses scanned copies of disclosures from political parties, spanning numerous pages.
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