The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday, 17 March, uploaded fresh data on political funds received through electoral bonds which included bonds sold and encashed before 12 April 2019.
The new figures revealed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received Rs 2,658.35 crore in electoral bonds between 9 March 2018-11 April 2019. Congress party received Rs 530.1 crore, Trinamool Congress got Rs 97.28 crore, and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) got Rs 239 crore.
The EC, had earlier on Thursday, 14 March, released State Bank of India (SBI) data of bonds sold and purchased from 12 April 2019-24 January 2024.
Mentioned below is the total amount of money received by various political parties from March 2018 to January 2024):
BJP received a total of Rs 8,718.85 crore. This includes Rs 2,658.35 crore received before 12 April 2019 and Rs 6,060.5 crore received after 12 April 2019.
Similarly, the Congress received a total of Rs 1,864.45 crore. Rs 530.1 crore were received before 12 April 2019 and Rs 1,334.35 crore were received after 12 April 2019.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) with Rs 97.28 crore received before 12 April 2019 and Rs 1,397 crore received after the said date got a total of Rs 1,494.28 crore in electoral bonds.
Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) made a total of Rs 1,183.5 crore in electoral bonds. This amounts includes Rs 239 crore received before 12 April 2019 and Rs 944.5 crore received between April 2019 and January 2024.
As per several Right to Information (RTI) responses, the SBI has sold electoral bonds worth Rs 16,518 crore since March 2018. EC had previously released SBI data of electoral bonds amounting to Rs 12,516 crore on Thursday.
Which means that out of electoral bonds worth Rs 4,002 crore, BJP alone got Rs 2,658.35 crore. The part, hence, got approximately 66 percent of money received through bonds sold between March 2018 and April 2019.
A similar trend can be seen for total bonds sold from March 2018 onwards, where the BJP with Rs 8,718.85 crore got 50 percent of all funding received via electoral bonds.
The EC data released on Sunday also included details of total funds received by other regional parties. This story will soon be updated to include their figures.
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