Prominent buyers of electoral bonds, including steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, Sunil Bharti Mittal's Airtel, Anil Agarwal's Vedanta, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, and a lesser-known Future Gaming and Hotel Services, have come to light following the Election Commission's disclosure of electoral bond data on Thursday. This revelation comes a day before the deadline set by the Supreme Court.
Notably, Future Gaming, previously under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate, purchased electoral bonds totalling over Rs 1,350 crore under two different corporate entities.
Among well-known corporations, Vedanta Ltd acquired bonds worth Rs 398 crore, while three companies under Sunil Mittal collectively purchased Rs 246 crore worth of bonds. Lakshmi Niwas Mittal personally invested Rs 35 crore in bonds. Additionally, Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering, a participant in various large infrastructure projects, obtained bonds worth Rs 966 crore.
While most bonds were issued in the names of political parties, donations to the Congress and the Samajwadi Party were made under the titles 'President, All India Congress Committee' and 'Adyaksha Samajwadi Party', respectively.
According to a Supreme Court order, the State Bank of India, the authorized issuer of electoral bonds, shared the data with the Election Commission on March 12, adhering to the court-mandated deadline of March 15 for its publication on the EC's website.
The EC has categorized the disclosed data into two parts: one listing the buyers and the other detailing the beneficiary parties. According to the EC, out of 22,217 electoral bonds purchased between April 1, 2019, and February 15, 2024, 22,030 were redeemed by political parties.
Buyers of electoral bonds also include Spicejet, IndiGo, Grasim Industries, Piramal Enterprises, Torrent Power, DLF Commercial Developers, Apollo Tyres, Edelweiss, PVR, Sula Wines, Welspun, Sun Pharma, Vardhman Textiles, Jindal Group, CEAT Tyres, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Kaypee Enterprises, Cipla, and Ultratech Cement, among others.
Political parties redeeming electoral bonds encompass the BJP, Congress, AIADMK, BRS, Shiv Sena, TDP, YSR Congress, DMK, JD-S, NCP, Trinamool Congress, JDU, RJD, AAP, Samajwadi Party, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, BJD, Goa Forward Party, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, JMM, Sikkim Democratic Front, and Jana Sena Party.
This disclosure follows a landmark verdict on February 15 by a five-judge Constitution bench that deemed the Centre's electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional. The bench ordered the EC to reveal donor details, donation amounts, and recipient information.
Individuals such as Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Varun Gupta, B K Goenka, Jainendra Shah, and Monika, alongside entities like Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance, and IndiGo, have also engaged in electoral bond transactions, contributing significantly to political funding. Notable bond purchases were made by Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd and Haldia Energy.
According to the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), from March 2018 to January 2024, a total of 28,030 electoral bonds worth Rs 16,518 crore were sold. The BJP received the highest contributions, accounting for Rs 6,566 crore or 54.77%, followed by the Congress with Rs 1,123 crore or 9.37%, and the Trinamool Congress with Rs 1,092 crore or 9.11%.
Follow us
