Electoral bonds data released: Billionaires to lesser-known entities among buyers

New Delhi, March 14 -- Electoral bonds data shared by the State Bank of India (SBI) was published on Thursday on the Election Commission's website, a day earlier than the Supreme Court deadline.

The poll panel was asked to publish the details, as it was received from SBI, on its official website by 5 pm on March 15.

The data shared by the Election Commission of India (ECI) revealed the purchase of now-scrapped electoral bonds of denominations between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 crore, since April 12, 2019. The information also showcases purchases made by both companies and individuals. The data also disclosed that recipients of funds through electoral bonds include BJP, Congress, AIADMK, BRS, Shiv Sena, TDP, YSR Congress and other political parties.

The list of entities which purchased electoral bonds to make political donations is a veritable Who's Who of the corporate world. But possibly the biggest donor, according to the list, is a little-known lottery company called Future Gaming and Hotel Services.

The better known names include steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, Sunil Bharti Mittal's Bharti Airtel, Anil Agarwal's Vedanta, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, DLF, PVR, Birlas, Bajajs, Jindals, Spicejet, IndiGo and the Goenkas. Future Gaming and Hotel Services purchased possibly the highest amount of bonds worth Rs 1,368 crore, followed by Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd at Rs 966 crore. Future Gaming was probed by the Enforcement Directorate in March 2022.

The data dump only disclosed the amount donated by each entity or individual. It does not say who donated to which party. Among the known corporates, Agarwal's Vedanta Ltd bought Rs 398 crore worth of bonds, while Sunil Mittal's three companies together purchased a total of Rs 246 crore worth of bonds. Steel magnate Lakshmi Niwas Mittal bought Rs 35 crore worth of bonds in his individual capacity. Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering, which has bagged contracts of several large infrastructure projects, bought bonds worth Rs 966 crore.

While most of the bonds have been issued in the name of political parties, the donations made to the Congress and the Samajwadi Party were made in the name of 'President, All India Congress Committee' and 'Adyaksha Samajvadi Party'.

According to the data uploaded by the poll panel, the buyers of electoral bonds included Spicejet, IndiGo, Grasim Industries, Megha Engineering, Piramal Enterprises, Torrent Power, Bharti Airtel, DLF Commercial Developers, Vedanta Ltd., Apollo Tyres, Edelweiss, PVR, Keventer, Sula Wines, Welspun, Sun Pharma, Vardhman Textiles, Jindal Group, Phillips Carbon Black Limited, CEAT tyres, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, ITC, Kaypee Enterprises, Cipla, and Ultratech Cement.

The parties that redeemed electoral bonds include the BJP, Congress, AIADMK, BRS, Shiv Sena, TDP, YSR Congress, DMK, JD-S, NCP, Trinamool Congress, JDU, RJD, AAP, the Samajwadi Party, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, BJD, Goa Forward Party, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, JMM, Sikkim Democratic Front, and the Jana Sena Party.

Individuals who donated through electoral bonds included Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Varun Gupta, B K Goenka, Jainendra Shah and one person going by only the first name of Monika.

Ghaziabad-based Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital purchased 162 bonds, mostly of Rs 1 crore each.

Bajaj Auto bought bonds worth Rs 18 crore, Bajaj Finance Rs 20 crore, three IndiGo firms Rs 36 crore, Spicejet Rs 65 lakh, and Rahul Bhatia of IndiGo bought bonds worth Rs 20 crore.

Mumbai-based Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd bought bonds worth Rs 410 crore and Haldia Energy Rs 377 crore.

Soon after the Election Commission released the data, the opposition Congress said there was a discrepancy in the numbers of entries in donor and recipient files -- 18,871 against 20,421. It also asked why the data shared pertained to a period from April 2019 even though the scheme for anonymous political funding was introduced in 2017.

The TDP and the Jana Sena, the ruling NDA constituents from Andhra Pradesh, downplayed the issue of their names featuring in the list of parties that have encashed electoral bonds.

The Election Commission's official website (eci.gov.in) can be accessed to check the data. The ECI also made the announcement through a press release on Thursday.

According to an earlier report by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), electoral bonds worth Rs 16,518 crore have been sold from March 2018 to January 2024.

The BJP received the highest contributions through the electoral bonds amounting to Rs 6,566 crore or 54.77 per cent, followed by the Congress with Rs 1,123 crore or 9.37 per cent, Trinamool Congress Rs 1,092 crore or 9.11 per cent, it had said.

The Supreme Court, in a landmark verdict, scrapped the Centre's electoral bonds scheme that allowed anonymous political funding, calling it "unconstitutional". Subsequently, the top court ordered disclosure by the Election Commission of donors, the amount donated by them and recipients.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.