The Election Commission of India has unveiled information concerning electoral bonds, which were previously submitted by political parties in sealed covers to the Supreme Court. The directive from the apex court necessitated this disclosure to the public, believed to pertain to the period before April 12, 2019.
According to the data released by the Election Commission, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received the highest amount of funds through electoral bonds, totaling ₹6,986.5 crore since their inception in 2018. Future Gaming and Hotel Services emerged as the primary purchaser of these bonds, channeling ₹509 crore to Tamil Nadu’s ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), through the now-defunct payment method.
This disclosure is part of the comprehensive dataset comprising 523 recognized and non-recognized political parties, as mandated by the Supreme Court. The Election Commission had previously published a dataset based on information provided by the State Bank of India (SBI), the designated bank for the sale and redemption of electoral bonds.
Key highlights from the Election Commission’s data include Future Gaming’s significant contribution of over 77 per cent of the electoral bond receipts disclosed by the DMK. However, details regarding the beneficiaries of the remaining bonds purchased by Future Gaming remain undisclosed due to incomplete donor information from various political entities.
The BJP leads in total funds received since the introduction of electoral bonds in 2018, followed by the Trinamool Congress, Congress, and Bharat Rashtra Samithi, according to the latest data from the Election Commission.
While some parties like the DMK have revealed donor identities, others such as the BJP, Congress, and TMC have not fully disclosed this information to the EC, as mandated by the Supreme Court.
The latest dataset released by the Election Commission consists of scanned copies of disclosures made by political parties, spanning numerous pages.
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