The data compiled by Commodore Lokesh Batra, an RTI activist, sheds light on the significant amount of money raised through electoral bonds following the Supreme Court’s reservation of judgment on the Election Bond Scheme in November 2023. Despite the court’s subsequent declaration of the scheme as unconstitutional in February 2024, the government proceeded with the sale of election bonds.
According to reports, election bonds worth over Rs 1,000 crore were sold in the 29th sale round from November 6 to November 20, 2023, shortly after the court reserved its decision. Subsequently, in the next phase, bonds worth Rs 5.70 crore were sold from January 2 to 11, 2024. Notably, a significant portion of these bonds, about 99% in Phase 29 and 94% in Phase 30, were of the highest denomination of Rs 1 crore.
The government’s active issuance of election bonds is evident from the printing of 8,350 bonds worth Rs 1 crore in 2024 alone. It’s worth mentioning that the cost of printing and managing these bonds is borne by the taxpayer, as revealed in an earlier RTI filed by Lokesh Batra. This implies that neither donors, corporations, nor political parties are directly involved in financing the production of these bonds.
Furthermore, data released by the Election Commission of India indicates that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received a substantial amount of Rs 8,251 crore through electoral bonds. This constitutes approximately 50% of the total donations received through the program since its inception in 2018.
