The Election Commission of India (ECI) has disclosed the declarations submitted by various recognized national and state political parties regarding electoral bonds. Initially submitted in sealed covers to the Supreme Court, the data was later mandated to be made public.
In the recent release of the second set of SBI electoral bonds data by the ECI, it was revealed that Future Gaming, owned by lottery mogul Santiago Martin, and Megha Engineering & Infra are the leading contributors to the DMK, led by MK Stalin in Tamil Nadu. Future Gaming contributed Rs 509 crore and Megha Engineering Rs 105 crore, making the total electoral bond contribution to the DMK stand at Rs 656.5 crore. Other notable contributors to the DMK include India Cements (Rs 14 crore) and Sun TV (Rs 100 crore).
Contrastingly, the rival AIADMK received a total of Rs 6.05 crore in electoral bonds, with a significant portion contributed by Chennai Super Kings. Janata Dal (United) declared receiving Rs 10 crore, with an interesting account of the donation process, indicating a lack of awareness about the donors.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the highest recipient of electoral bonds, amounting to Rs 6,986.5 crore, the highest since the inception of the bonds in 2018. Trinamool Congress (TMC) followed closely with Rs 1397 crore, although it refrained from disclosing the donors due to the bearer nature of the bonds.
Congress, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), and YSR Congress also redeemed significant amounts through electoral bonds. The JD(S) received bonds worth Rs 89.75 crore, with notable contributions from Megha Engineering and the Embassy Group.
Various regional parties such as Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, Sikkim Democratic Front, and MGP Goa also received substantial donations through electoral bonds from companies like Bharti Group and Alembic Pharma.
The disclosure further revealed significant contributions to parties like the Samajwadi Party, Aam Aadmi Party, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Shiv Sena, and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
Interestingly, certain parties such as the Communist Party of India (Marxist) at the national level and the Communist Party of India, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Indian Union Muslim League, and the Kerala Congress at the state level denied receiving any Electoral Bonds.
The ECI's statement emphasized the compliance with the Supreme Court's interim order and the subsequent publication of the data received in digitized form from the registry of the Supreme Court on its website.
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