The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) collected 76 percent of the electoral bonds sold in the financial year 2019-20, worth Rs 2,555 crore.
Total electoral bonds worth Rs 3,355 crore were sold in 2019-20, as per data accessed by NDTV from the Election Commission.
The BJP’s income was a 75 percent jump from the Rs 1,450 crore the saffron party received through the electoral bonds the previous year.
For the same period, Congress’ collections dropped by 17 percent, after receiving Rs 318 crore, 9 percent of the total electoral bonds, in contrast to Rs 383 crore it received in 2018-19.
Other Opposition parties and their collection:
Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC): Rs 100.46 crore
Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP): Rs 29.25 crore
Shiv Sena: Rs 41 crore
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK): Rs 45 crore
Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Rs 2.5 crore
Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP): Rs 18 crore
The BJP's income, in the financial year ending in March 2019, was more than twice of its five major rivals put together.
The BJP alone, till March 2020, has received 68 percent of the electoral bonds sold since they were introduced.
Electoral bonds were introduced by the government in 2017-2018 despite major political opposition, which allowed individuals as well as corporations to fund political parties anonymously, including those partly owned by foreign entities.
Overall, all political parties showed a sharp rise in income since the anonymous donation system was introduced.
The Congress had protested that through the bonds, the government had made "corruption official". Though the system introduced endorsed anonymity, the government had argued that it would improve transparency.
(With inputs from NDTV)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)