New Delhi: Regional parties received over Rs5,221 crore in donations through electoral bonds between April 2019 and January 2024 which was Rs839 crore less than the Rs6,060.51 crore raised by the BJP alone in the period under review.
According to the data of the electoral bonds published by the Election Commission, two national parties – the Congress and the AAP – have raised Rs1,421.86 crore and Rs65.45 crore respectively in the period under review. The other national parties – the BSP, the CPI(M) and the NPP – did not receive any funds through electoral bonds.
Among the regional parties, the Trinamool Congress alone raised Rs1,609.53 crore, which was 30 per cent of the total donations received by 22 regional parties who got funds through electoral bonds.
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi raised Rs1,214.70 crore through electoral bonds, the BJD got Rs775.50 crore, the DMK Rs639 crore, the YSRCP Rs337 crore, the TDP Rs218.88 crore and the Shiv Sena raised 159.38 crore.
The RJD raised Rs73.5 crore through electoral bonds, the JD(S) Rs43.40 crore, the Sikkim Krantikari Party Rs36.5 crore, the NCP Rs31 crore, the Jana Sena Party Rs21 crore, the SP Rs14.05 crore, the JD(U) Rs14 crore, and the JMM Rs13.5 crore.
The Akali Dal raised Rs7.2 crore, the AIADMK Rs6.05 crore, and the Sikkim Democratic Front Rs5.5 crore.
The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, the J&K National Conference and the Goa Forward Party received less than Rs1 crore through electoral bonds.
According to an earlier report by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), electoral bonds worth Rs16,518 crore have been sold from March 2018 to January 2024. The data published by Election Commission so far does not include the period from March 2018 to April 11, 2019.
The BJP received the highest contributions through the electoral bonds amounting to Rs6,566 crore or 54.77 per cent, followed by the Congress with Rs1,123 crore or 9.37 per cent, and the Trinamool Congress Rs1,092 crore or 9.11 per cent, it had said in the report released last month.
In an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the SBI said a total of 22,217 electoral bonds of varying denominations were purchased by donors between April 1, 2019 and February 15 this year, out of which 22,030 were redeemed by political parties.
PTI
