On 14th of March 2024, the State Bank of India (SBI) released the data on Electoral Bonds bought by various entities from the State Bank of India and the recipients of such bonds in compliance with the Supreme Court order. As soon as the data came out the anti-Modi ‘journalists’, trolls and political parties resorted to fake news peddling. They claimed that the electoral bonds data from March 2018 to March 2019 is ‘missing’ as SBI’s electoral bonds disclosure documents do not include data of this timeframe.
Arvind Gunasekar, who claims to be a ‘journalist’ and is a JNU alumnus claimed that SBI disclosed the electoral bonds data only between April 2019 to January 2024 asserting that the data from March 2018 and 2019 is ‘missing’.
“SBI has shared electoral bonds data only between April 2019 to January 2024. Data from March 2018 – March 2019 missing. Electoral bonds worth over 2,500 crore were sold between March 2018 – March 2019,” Arvind Gunasekar wrote on X (archive).
SBI has shared electoral bonds data only between April 2019 to January 2024.
— Arvind Gunasekar (@arvindgunasekar) March 14, 2024
Data from March 2018 – March 2019 missing.
Electoral bonds worth over 2,500 crore were sold between March 2018 – March 2019.
A Congress-supporting troll @nher_who with over 2 lakh followers on X made similar claims in a post and wrote, “If you are wondering where’s the data of Adani and Ambani. Here’s a fact : Electoral bonds worth over 2,500 crore were sold from March 2018 to March 2019. SBI hasn’t shared the data of that period. No prizes for guessing why.”
If you are wondering where’s the data of Adani and Ambani. Here’s a fact :
— Nehr_who? (@Nher_who) March 14, 2024
Electoral bonds worth over 2,500 crore were sold from March 2018 to March 2019.
SBI hasn’t shared the data of that period.
No prizes for guessing why.
Another Congress supporter Ankit Mayank questioned if the electoral bonds data from March 2018 to March 2019 is “actually missing” or the SBI and the Election Commission is “deliberately” hiding it.
BIG BREAKING 🚨
— Ankit Mayank (@mr_mayank) March 14, 2024
Electoral bonds data from March 2018 to March 2019 is missing.
Electoral bonds worth over ₹2,500 crore were sold during this period.
Big question – Is the data really missing or SBI & ECI are deliberately hiding it for some reason?#ElectoralBondsCase
“Electoral bonds data from March 2018 to March 2019 is missing. Electoral bonds worth over ₹2,500 crore were sold during this period. Big question – Is the data really missing or SBI & ECI are deliberately hiding it for some reason?,” Mayank posted.
One “Samajwadi Prahari” wrote, “Electoral bonds data from March 2018 to March 2019 is missing. Electoral bonds worth over ₹2,500 crore were sold during this period. Big question – Is the data really missing or SBI & ECI are deliberately hiding it.”
Electoral bonds data from March 2018 to March 2019 is missing.
— Samajwadi Prahari (@SP_Prahari) March 14, 2024
Electoral bonds worth over ₹2,500 crore were sold during this period.
Big question – Is the data really missing or SBI & ECI are deliberately hiding it.#ElectoralBondsCase pic.twitter.com/fKdLr7CWew
Meanwhile, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) affiliated troll “AAP Ka Mehta” wrote on X, “IMPORTANT – DATA OF ELECTORAL BONDS INCOMPLETE SBI has shared electoral bonds data only between April 2019 to January 2024 only !! Data from March 2018 – March 2019 missing. Electoral bonds worth over 2,500 crore were sold between March 2018 – March 2019. Who benefited?? So, Data of Bonds before Lok Sabha 2019 is MISSING!!”
IMPORTANT – DATA OF ELECTORAL BONDS INCOMPLETE
— AAP Ka Mehta 🇮🇳 (@DaaruBaazMehta) March 14, 2024
SBI has shared electoral bonds data only between April 2019 to January 2024 only !!
Data from March 2018 – March 2019 missing.
Electoral bonds worth over 2,500 crore were sold between March 2018 – March 2019. Who benefited??
So,…
Is electoral bonds data missing or is SBI hiding it?
Now the question arises here, is electoral bonds data from March 2018 to March 2019 missing? If it is not missing, why do the State Bank of India electoral bonds disclosure documents not include it? The answer to this lies in the Supreme Court’s recent order directing SBI to publish the electoral bonds data on its website.
In its order, the Supreme Court directed SBI to share details of electoral bonds bought between 12 April 2019 and 15 February 2024. SBI only complied with the court order and released the data for the specified period. Thus, the electoral bonds data between March 2018 and March 2019 is neither “missing” nor “deliberately hidden” by the SBI. The anti-Modi/anti-BJP lobby is making unfounded claims in its desperate bid to imply that SBI and somehow even the Election Commission are complicit in hiding the electoral bonds data to “save BJP”.
“In order to give full effect to the judgment which was rendered by the Constitution Bench, this Court directed the State Bank of India, which was the authorized Bank to deal with Electoral Bonds under the Electoral Bond Scheme to submit details of the Electoral Bonds purchased by the contributors and redeemed by political parties between 12 April 2019 (the date on which an interim order was passed by this Court directing the Election Commission of India to collect details of the contributions) till 15 February 2024 (the date of the judgment),” the Supreme Court order reads.
Interestingly, although the SBI’s disclosure document does not mention electoral bond purchase data between March 2018 to March 2019, the data is not ‘missing’. In fact, it is already out in public. As we reported earlier, since the launch of the scheme in 2018, bonds worth around ₹16,000 crore were sold by the State Bank of India between March 2018 and January 2024. BJP’s share in it was around 55% or approximately ₹6,565 crore. Congress received around 1,123.3 crore, or around 7%. TMC received around ₹1,101.33 crore, around 7%.
Notably, even though the BJP has been the major beneficiary of the electoral bonds scheme, the non-NDA parties have also significantly benefitted from this scheme with a major share of donations coming to them via electoral bonds.
As reported earlier, the SBI published the electoral bond data in two sheets on 14th March. One gives the details of purchasers of the Electoral Bonds from 12 April 2019 to 11 January 2024, and the other gives the details of political parties that encashed Electoral Bonds from 12 April 2019 to 24 January 2024.
The BJP received more than Rs 6,061 crore in electoral bond funding, making them the highest benefactor. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) secured Rs 1,610 crore, while the Congress received Rs 1,422 crore. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has received Rs 1,215 crore in electoral bond funding, followed by the Biju Janta Dal (BJD) with Rs 776 crore.
The frustration of opposition parties and their supporters is obvious since the names they hoped to see on the Electoral Bonds list were absent. While many expected Adani Group and Reliance Group to appear significantly on the list, the two are not even included. This appears to have prompted them to turn to lies and misinformation to bring down the BJP and target even SBI.
