BJP Received ₹ 6,986 Crore Through Poll Bonds, Highest Among All Parties

The BJP received the maximum funds through these bonds at ₹ 6,986.5 crore since they were introduced in 2018, followed by West Bengal’s ruling party Trinamool Congress (Rs 1,397 crore), Congress (Rs 1,334 crore) and BRS (Rs 1,322 crore).

The top purchaser of electoral bonds, Future Gaming and Hotel Services, donated ₹ 509 crore to Tamil Nadu’s ruling party DMK through the now scrapped payment mode, the Election Commission data showed on Sunday.

Odisha’s ruling party BJD was the fourth largest recipient at ₹ 944.5 crore followed by DMK at ₹ 656.5 crore and Andhra Pradesh’s ruling party YSR Congress redeemed bonds worth nearly ₹ 442.8 crore.

The JD(S) received bonds worth ₹ 89.75 crore, including ₹ 50 crore from Megha Engineering, the second largest purchaser of electoral bonds.

Future Gaming of lottery king Santiago Martin was the biggest purchaser of electoral bonds at ₹ 1,368 crore, of which nearly 37 per cent went to the DMK.

Other major donors of the DMK included Megha Engineering ₹ 105 crore, India Cements ₹ 14 crore and Sun TV ₹ 100 crore.

The TMC received ₹ 1,397 crore through electoral bonds, second largest recipient after the BJP.

The DMK was among the few political parties to disclose the identity of the donors, while major parties such as the BJP, Congress, TMC and AAP did not disclose these details to the Election Commission, which has now made public those filing as per a Supreme Court order.

The TDP redeemed bonds worth ₹ 181.35 crore, Shiv Sena ₹ 60.4 crore, RJD 56 crore, Samajwadi Party got ₹ 14.05 crore via electoral bonds, Akali Dal ₹ 7.26 crore, AIADMK ₹ 6.05 crore, National Conference ₹ 50 lakh.

The CPI(M) has declared that it will not receive funds through electoral bonds, while filings made by the AIMIM and BSP showed nil receipts.