New Delhi, The Election Commission of India has unveiled figures showing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the primary beneficiary of a controversial funding mechanism, securing over £570m through electoral bonds. This disclosure comes in the wake of the Indian Supreme Court deeming the scheme unconstitutional due to its potential to facilitate undisclosed quid pro quo arrangements.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the electoral bond scheme, initiated by the Modi government in 2017, allowed for anonymous donations to political parties, enabling corporations and individuals to contribute without disclosure by purchasing certificates from the State Bank of India (SBI). However, the Supreme Court’s decision last month mandates the SBI to reveal the identities of the donors who purchased these bonds.
Critics of the electoral bonds have long argued their opacity could obscure the sources of political funding, raising concerns over accountability and corruption. The data, spanning back to 2019, illustrates the BJP’s significant financial dominance, with the party receiving more than 54 percent of all bond donations, far surpassing the funds acquired by any other political entity. In contrast, the Indian National Congress, the principal opposition, garnered just 14bn rupees through the scheme.
The Supreme Court’s ruling represents a significant setback for the BJP, which has notably benefited from the electoral bonds mechanism. Furthermore, revelations from the bond details, made public on Thursday, indicate that several major donors, including companies under investigation for financial irregularities, have been significant contributors to the bond scheme. Among them, Future Gaming and Hotel Services, Megha Engineering, and the Vedanta Group are currently subject to inquiries by Indian tax authorities.
Despite the release of donation amounts and the initiation of the bond scheme’s scrutiny, the specific allocations of funds from donors to political parties remain undisclosed, maintaining a veil over the exact sources of party financing.