A day after the Election Commission of India released the data of Electoral Bonds bought by various entities from the State Bank of India and the recipients of such bonds, All India Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra took to social media criticizing the national ruling BJP party for being the biggest recipient of these bonds. She claimed that “55% of the total bonds” were received by the BJP and that the Centre was using national agencies to its benefit.
“One country. One Guru. One ED. One IT. One CBI. One Political Party. 55 percent of all donations. Go figure,” she commented indicating that the national ruling BJP party had been ‘unnecessarily’ targeting the opposition parties by using the national agencies and its powers.
One country. One Guru. One ED. One IT. One CBI.
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) March 15, 2024
One Political Party. 55 percent of all donations. Go figure.
However, Moitra forgot to mention that the party to which she belongs, the All India Trinamool Congress is the second largest beneficiary with Rs 1,609 crore, followed by Congress (Rs 1,422 crore) and BRS (Rs 1,215 crore). The party that is in power in just one state has managed to benefit to the extent of Rs 1,610 crores which accounts for 13% of the total amount.
Addtionally, the BJP has got less than 48% of the total bonds, not 55% as claimed by Mahua Moitra.
What are electoral bonds?
Electoral bonds are a relatively new notion in political fundraising in India. Electoral bonds, which were introduced in 2017, allowed individuals and corporations to anonymously donate an unlimited amount of money to any political party. Until a landmark decision by the Supreme Court in mid-February to abolish the seven-year-old election funding system, just weeks before the Lok Sabha elections in April-May this year, donors purchased bonds in fixed denominations from the State Bank of India (SBI) and handed them over to any political party, which could cash them using a bank account. The bonds did not compel the recipient political parties to disclose the donor’s name to anyone, even to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
According to the electoral bond scheme, an electoral bond was issued in the form of a promissory note that was bearer in character. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms, a bearer instrument does not bear the name of the buyer or payee, hence no ownership information is recorded, and the holder of the instrument is considered to be the owner.
Concerns over electoral bonds prompted proposals for reforms to increase openness and accountability in political fundraising. Some even have urged tougher rules and disclosures to prevent the misuse of these tools. Notably, as per the data released by the Election Commission of India, the donations to the TMC increased after the party swept the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2021.
How much did TMC redeem during 2021 elections?
According to data, the TMC redeemed Rs 1609 crore in electoral bonds between April 2019 and January 2024. In October-November 2020 and January 2021, the party redeemed 65 electoral bonds totaling Rs 43.4 crore; this was also the first year of the COVID-19 epidemic.
Assembly elections were conducted in West Bengal from March 27 to April 29, 2021. In April, the AITMC redeemed 171 electoral bonds for Rs 55.44 crore, an increase over the months preceding the elections. However, in July 2021, after the party returned to power in a landslide, it redeemed 337 electoral bonds totaling Rs 107.56 crore.
In October 2021, redemptions totaled Rs 141.92 crore, whereas in January 2022, it was Rs 224 crore. Following that, there was a temporary fall in poll bond redemptions. In April 2022, the AIMTC repaid bonds worth Rs 18 crore. In July 2022, the figure increased to Rs 66.5 crore. And in October 2022, the party redeemed poll bills of Rs 143 crore.
Netizens took cognizance of the post written by TMC MP Mahua Moitra against the BJP and accused her of exaggerating the numbers. Moitra claimed that BJP had received 55% of the gains, however, the actual gains received by the national ruling party is just 46%.
Interestingly, many other netizens stated that the BJP is at present ruling several Indian states and is also at the Centre which reasonably justifies the benefit it has availed via the electoral bonds. However, they pondered how TMC, a regional party that is in power in just one state managed to benefit to this extent, surpassing the Indian National Congress (Rs 1,422 crore) and BRS (Rs 1,215 crore).
In the latest development, the Supreme Court declared on Friday (March 15) that the State Bank of India (SBI) must publish electoral bond numbers in addition to the information it has already disclosed about bond purchase and redemption.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice BR Gavai, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra reassembled today to hear an application filed by the Election Commission. In its application, the ECI demanded the return of sealed cover documents provided by the commission to the court in accordance with its interim order.
In a historic decision on February 15, the Chief Justice Chandrachud-led court ruled that anonymous electoral bonds violate the right to knowledge under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
Not only that, but this constitution bench asked the State Bank of India, the bank that issues electoral bonds, to stop issuing them immediately. Furthermore, the bank was required to report information of any such bond purchases made following the court’s interim decision on April 12, 2019, to the Election Commission of India within three weeks, with a deadline of March 6, 2024.
Further on Friday (March 15), it categorically stated that the State Bank of India (SBI) has to disclose electoral bond numbers as well, in addition to the details it has already disclosed regarding the purchase and redemption of the bonds.
