More bond details out: Payments before 2019 polls; DMK, AIADMK and JD(S) name their donors

Although this isn’t unprecedented — Jharkhand Mukti Morcha had voluntarily disclosed Rs 1 crore donation from Hindalco Industries Limited through an electoral bond in 2019-20 — the second instalment of information pertaining to electoral bonds revealed by ECI is crucial as it is the biggest disclosure of details (although partial) to date on which donor exactly donated to which party.

For example, Future Gaming and Hotel Services Pvt Ltd, run by Santiago Martin, the largest contributor through electoral bonds, allocated nearly 40% of its total purchases — exceeding Rs 1,300 crore — from 2019 to 2024 to the DMK, the reigning party in Tamil Nadu.

Similarly, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL), the second-largest purchaser of bonds of almost Rs 1,000 crore, gave away Rs 50 crore to the JD(S) in Karnataka. Narayana Murthy-led Infosys donated Rs 1 crore to JD(S) two months before the 2018 Karnataka elections.

JKNC received Rs 50 lakh from Sunil Mittal-promoted Bharti Airtel in 2019. The Bajaj Group donated Rs 3 crore to the Aam Aadmi Party, becoming its biggest donor via electoral bonds, days before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Bharti Airtel Ltd and Serum Institute’s Cyrus Poonawala donated to NCP during 2018-19. Meanwhile, some of the largest political parties, such as the BJP, Congress, and TMC, among others, have refrained from disclosing any information about their donors.

Notably, the BJP, in its submission to the ECI on November 15, 2023, stated that it is not obligated by law to maintain records of the names and particulars of electoral bond donors, and therefore, did not possess such details. Congress, on the other hand, told ECI that it has requested SBI to share the identity of its bond donors directly with the Commission as it didn’t have these details.

At least three parties, namely the Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, informed the Commission that they had chosen to not accept any donations via electoral bonds.

Although it’s not clear how the 10 regional parties figured details of electoral bond donors given that the bond doesn’t carry their names in order to protect their identity, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya had told this newspaper in April 2021 that his party found out about the donor only when Hindalco reached out seeking a receipt for the contribution.

According to Prashant Bhushan, who is arguing he case on behalf of the petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in Supreme Court, Sunday’s disclosure by the ECI only strengthens the argument for the State Bank of India to share the unique alphanumeric code for each bond purchased and redeemed.

When contacted, Bhushan told The Indian Express: “It’s evident now that parties know the identity of donors. The fact that some parties haven’t revealed the details only strengthens our argument that the State Bank of India must disclose the electoral bond numbers, enabling the public to match the donor with the political party.”

The first tranche of data made public by the ECI Thursday last week had two parts. First, the name of bond purchasers, the denomination and the date of purchase. Second, details of political parties, the denomination of bonds redeemed and when. All this was for bonds purchased and redeemed under the scheme from April 1, 2019 to February 15, 2024.

The total amount donated under the scheme during this period was Rs 12,156 crore, of which almost half came from the top 20 donors alone.
This disclosure was forced by the Supreme Court which struck down the electoral bonds scheme introduced by the first Narendra Modi government in 2018. The Electoral Bond scheme, notified in January 2018, allowed individuals and companies to make donations to political parties. Essentially in the nature of a bearer instrument, it provided anonymity to its holders, and was hence challenged in the Supreme Court.

On February 15 this year, the top court termed it “unconstitutional” and scrapped the scheme with immediate effect. It also directed SBI, the sole issuing authority, to provide all details of bond purchasers and their redemption to the ECI, which has been made public Thursday.
Cumulatively, with the first and second instalment of information shared by ECI on Thursday and Sunday, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre has received the maximum funds through these bonds nearly Rs 8,500 crore since they were introduced in 2018, followed by Congress Party which received 1,950 crore and West Bengal’s ruling party Trinamool Congress at roughly Rs 1,700 crore.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi was the fourth-largest recipient at approximately Rs 1,400 and Odisha’s ruling party Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was the fifth-largest recipient at Rs 1,010 crore.