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A look at the data on electoral bonds redeemed from April 2019 to January 2024, published by the Election Commission (EC) on Thursday, shows that for regional parties, what played a big role in the money they got was whether they were in government or not, and who they aligned with.
The Trinamool Congress, albeit a regional party, is excluded from this analysis as its electoral bond redemption, a total of Rs 1,610 crore since April 2019, far exceeds the other regional parties. In fact, the TMC figures only behind the BJP (by a big margin) and is ahead of the Congress.
Telangana: The poll peak
The Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), which ruled Telangana for 10 years before losing power in December last year, raised Rs 1,214 crore from electoral bonds between April 2019 and January 2024. However, almost 40% or Rs 495 crore of that was redeemed in the April, July, October and November tranches last year, ahead of the Assembly polls held in November. The BRS is the highest recipient of donations through electoral bonds among the regional parties since 2019, barring the TMC. During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls though, the party got only Rs 37 crore.
Odisha: A BJD story
While there have been no major elections in Odisha in the past four years, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has been in power in the state for more than two decades, received Rs 775 crore in the period. The highest single redemption amount of Rs 155 crore came in July 2023.
Andhra Pradesh: TDP on the up, YSRCP down
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which was in power in Andhra Pradesh and has some influence in Telangana, raised over Rs 219 crore through electoral bonds from April 2019 to January 2024. Of its total, the party received Rs 100 crore between April 2019 and November 2023 from 159 electoral bonds. But, ahead of the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh days from now, amidst talk of a possible alliance with the BJP (since stitched), the TDP received Rs 118 crore in the one month of January 2024 alone.
In contrast, Andhra Pradesh’s ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) received Rs 337 crore via electoral bond redemption in the April 2019 and November 2023 period, of which 18% or Rs 61 crore came in three months between November 2023 and January 2024.
Maharashtra: Shiv Sena fortunes surged ahead of faction’s switch to BJP
The undivided Shiv Sena got a total of Rs 18 crore in the two tranches of July and October before the 2019 Assembly elections in Maharashtra. But shortly after, in November 2019, the Shiv Sena quit the NDA to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government with the Congress and NCP. Subsequently, the Shiv Sena did not redeem any bonds through 2020 and 2021.
In January 2022, six months before Eknath Shinde led a revolt against CM Uddhav Thackeray and split the party to form a government with the BJP, the Shiv Sena received Rs 29 crore from electoral bonds. Despite forming the government, the party did not redeem any bonds until 2023, when it got Rs 72 crore across the year. In January 2024 alone, as the election year began, it got Rs 25 crore.
The NCP, during the Maharashtra Assembly polls in October 2019, received Rs 12 crore through electoral bonds. In April 2021, it received Rs 3.8 crore and in January 2022, months before Thackeray resigned as CM, it got Rs 10 crore.
Bihar: JD(U), RJD funds go up, down as per Nitish’s goings, comings
The RJD, which had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in an alliance with the Congress and Left, as it is doing again this time, received donations of Rs 2.5 crore via 25 electoral bonds in April 2019.
During the Bihar Assembly polls held in October-November 2020, when the BJP on an upsurge fought in alliance with the Janata Dal (United), the RJD received only Rs 1 crore from electoral bonds.
After the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) walked out of the NDA in August 2022 and formed a new government with a multi-party coalition that included the RJD and Congress, and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav became Deputy Chief Minister, the RJD recorded an increase in electoral bond redemptions, receiving Rs 30 crore in July 2023 and Rs 25 crore in October 2023.
On January 20, days before CM Nitish Kumar quit the Mahagathbandhan to return to the NDA, the RJD received Rs 15 crore by redeeming 15 electoral bonds.
The JD(U), which received Rs 3 crore during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, got only Rs 1 crore during Assembly elections in 2020. But the party got Rs 10 crore in January 2022, six months before walking out of the NDA.
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka: DMK’s poll windfall
The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu has raised Rs 639 crore through electoral bonds since April 2019, with its biggest chunk of Rs 103 crore coming on April 7, 2021, a day after polling for the state’s Assembly elections. During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, which the alliance led by it swept, despite the BJP’s support to the AIADMK, the DMK got only Rs 9 crore through electoral bonds.
The Janata Dal (Secular), which received only Rs 2.5 crore during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, redeemed Rs 41 crore on April 17 and 18, 2023, a month before the Assembly polls in Karnataka.
Uttar Pradesh: SP’s declining kitty
In Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party (SP) redeemed 10 electoral bonds worth Rs 10.84 crore during the Lok Sabha elections held in April-May 2019, when the party had an alliance with the BSP, which did not redeem any electoral bonds. While the BJP eventually swept the polls in UP, the SP-BSP tie-up gave the BJP a shake-up call in the Lok Sabha bypolls held for Phulpur and Gorakhpur in 2018.
However, in the 2022 UP Assembly elections, when the BSP contested separately and the SP formed alliances with smaller parties but contested across a larger geographic area of the state, the SP received donations of only Rs 3.21 crore through six electoral bonds.
Punjab: Akali Dal falls, AAP rises
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Punjab as an NDA partner and redeemed electoral bonds valued at Rs 6.7 crore during the polls. However, the party quit the NDA in 2020 in protest over the three controversial farm laws pushed through Parliament by the Narendra Modi government.
Ahead of the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls, in which the SAD contested in an alliance with the BSP, it got only Rs 50 lakh in January 2022. In total, the SAD raised Rs 7.26 crore through electoral bonds.
But for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the win in the Punjab elections in February 2022 reflected in a surge in money via electoral bonds. In 2021, the party had redeemed only Rs 1.85 crore through electoral bonds. But ahead of the Punjab polls, the party received Rs 3.4 crore in January 2022 alone. After its win, the AAP redeemed 126 electoral bonds worth Rs 44.45 crore across October, November and December in 2022.
