New Delhi: Opposition parties might call the electoral bonds scheme “diabolical”, a “money laundering operation” and a “fatal step”, but when it comes to receiving donations, they seem to have no reservation against it.
The latest figures of donations received by regional parties, as submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI), show that they are raking it in big through these bonds.
Political parties also have other sources of income, including fees and subscription, and sales of publications, among other things, but for most, electoral bonds account for the biggest chunk. This seems to be even more true for regional parties.
The 2022-23 audit reports of parties like Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) show that they received most of their donations through electoral bonds.
The TMC, whose leaders have, in the past, attacked the Modi government over issues related to electoral bonds, earned 99.4 percent, or Rs 325 crore, of its total donations worth Rs 327 crore in the form of electoral bonds.
Over 99 percent of the DMK’s Rs 186 crore worth of donations were in the form of electoral bonds too. As per the audit report filed by the party, all of its Rs 185 crore worth of bonds came from corporate donors. Apart from this, the party earned Rs 16 crore worth of income from “fees and subscriptions”.
While audit reports of BJP and Congress for 2022-23 are yet to be released by the ECI, in 2021-22, the BJP had declared that it received Rs 1,033.70 crore via electoral bonds, which accounted for 58 percent of its donations. That year, the Congress received Rs 236 crore (68 percent) out of its Rs 347 crore worth of donations through electoral bonds.
Electoral bonds are financial instruments which were launched in 2018 with the aim to increase transparency in funding of political parties. Donors can buy these bonds from State Bank of India (SBI) branches and donate the funds to a party of their choice.
These bonds carry neither the name of the donor nor the recipient and can be purchased and encashed through bank accounts.
Considering that the government is the majority shareholder in SBI, critics of the scheme also allege that the bonds offer “selective anonymity”.
Over the years, the Congress has led the attack on the Modi government over the scheme.
In September this year, party’s general secretary in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh had said, “The electoral bonds scheme is one of the most diabolical acts of the Modi government undermining our electoral system and democracy.”
“It is not only a method to convert black money into white overwhelmingly in favour of the BJP, but also ensures a financial chokehold of the BJP via the government over political donations of business groups — leading to economic and political concentration of wealth.”
In October, TMC MP and party’s national spokesperson Saket Gokhale said, the Modi government “must be charged under PMLA” for the electoral bonds scheme. “It’s a plain and clear money laundering operation,” he said.
The ECI released audit reports for financial year 2022-23 of 13 parties Thursday evening, including other parties like the Sikkim Democratic Front, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Jannayak Janta Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, Asom Gana Parishad, and All Jharkhand Students Union Party.
Also read: SC takes up ‘selective anonymity’ of electoral bonds on Day 2 — ‘leading to information hole’
Over half of AAP’s donations via electoral bonds
In 2022-23, the AAP received Rs 84 crore worth of donations, of which over half (Rs 45 crore) constituted the amount received via electoral bonds. Though the amount barely compares with other parties, donations have nearly doubled compared to last year — total Rs 43 crore, with Rs 25 crore via electoral bonds.
However, the share of electoral bonds is a significant rise for a party which, until 2018, boasted of being the “only party whose 95 percent donations come online, through the banking system”. AAP National Secretary Pankaj Gupta had called the electoral bond scheme, “most fatal step in the history of transparency of electoral donations”.
A major chunk (Rs 38 crore) of AAP’s donations includes those received from individual donors/firms and institutions/welfare Bodies.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s total donations stood at Rs 63 crore for 2022-23, but not even a single rupee was received via electoral bonds, as per the audit report of the party. All contributions came under the category of “other voluntary contributions”. Another Rs 41 crore of income came from “fees & subscriptions”.
The CPI(M) was among the parties that moved Supreme Court in 2018, challenging the Centre’s introduction of the scheme. Its general secretary Sitaram Yechury has called the scheme, “crony capitalism of the highest order”
Naveen Patnaik’s BJD received 100 percent of its donations worth Rs 152 crore last financial year via electoral bonds.
Andhra Pradesh is set to go to polls in 2024, a year that will also see the Lok Sabha polls. The YSRCP, led by the richest chief minister in the country — Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy — received a total of Rs 68 crore worth of donations last financial year. Of this, Rs 52 crore, which accounts for three-fourth of the total, came from electoral bonds.
All the above-mentioned parties are still in power in their respective states, but Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) lost the Telangana assembly elections to the Congress earlier this month. Ahead of this year’s polls, the BRS would have wanted to gather maximum resources in a state known for its huge election-related expenditure per candidate. The party saw 250 percent rise in its donations to Rs 683 crore in 2022-23, up from Rs 193 crore in the last year.
This rise in donations to the BRS can be attributed to electoral bonds, which accounted for Rs 529 crore in 2023, up from Rs 153 crore in 2022 and making up over three-quarters of all donations received by BRS in both years.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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Let the arguments against the bonds be taken in true spirit and not vitiate with comments like regional parties raked in money through bonds. Left to no option , people have to choose the best suited to them and if one party takes money anonymous no one else give money staking their name out to other parties