Congress workers protest against Non transparent policy of BJP government for not disclosing names of electoral bonds against SBI Bank in Mumbai on March 7, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

33 loss-making firms donated electoral bonds worth ₹582 crore, 75% went to BJP | Data

The sources of funds of at least 45 companies that donated electoral bonds to various political parties (and whose financials could be matched with data from the CMIE Prowess IQ Database) are found to be suspect based on a joint analysis by The Hindu and an independent research team. These 45 companies are subdivided into four categories (A, B, C & D).

Prison locks will be broken, our leaders will come out, says AAP’s Sanjay Singh after release

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on Wednesday walked out of jail a day after the Supreme Court granted him bail in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise scam.

The Rajya Sabha MP, who was greeted by large crowds and much fanfare, said that though he was free, AAP must “continue its struggle”. “This is not the time to celebrate. We need to continue our struggle. Our party’s senior leaders – Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain – are still behind bars. Jail ke taale tutenge, hamare saare neta chhutenge (The locks of their prison will be broken and all our leaders will come out),” he said, minutes after walking out of Tihar jail.

Congress expels Sanjay Nirupam for ‘indiscipline’, making statements against party

The Congress on April 3 expelled former MP Sanjay Nirupam from the party for ‘indiscipline’ and making repeated statements against the party. The action was initiated against the 59-year-old leader for his remarks against the leadership of the grand old party amid seat-sharing talks with ally Shiv Sena (UBT).

WhatsApp services restored following global outage

WhatsApp and Instagram, both owned by Meta, have been restored after experiencing a worldwide outage. Both the platforms were down for thousands of users on April 3 around 11.45 p.m., according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com.

Probe against Kejriwal at nascent stage: Enforcement Directorate to HC

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday opposed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest and remand in connection with the now-scrapped excise policy-linked money laundering case, saying that its “investigation is at a nascent stage” as far as he was concerned.

Hand over 2018 violence probe to NIA, Calcutta HC tells Bengal government

A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the West Bengal government to transfer the 2018 violence at a Uttar Dinajpur school, in which two youths died, to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Meitei body asks CEC, CJI to defer Lok Sabha election

The Delhi Meitei Coordinating Committee (DMCC), an umbrella body representing Meitei civil society organisations in Delhi, has written to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and the Chief Justice of India (CJI) seeking the postponement of the Lok Sabha election in Manipur for the time being, given the ethnic unrest and “abnormal” situation in the State.

Congress playing religious card in Arunachal: Chief Minister Khandu

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on April 3 accused the Congress of playing the religious card in the State after a Christian organisation declared support for the Lok Sabha candidates of the grand old party.

ECI shakes up West Bengal administration, special observer arrives in State

With just two weeks to go before the first phase of polling in West Bengal, newly appointed special general observer Alok Sinha arrived in Kolkata on April 3. A notification announcing the appointment of special observers to five states, including West Bengal, was made by the Election Commission (EC) on April 2.

Purnea LS seat may witness triangular fight as RJD candidate Bima Bharati files nomination papers

Ending speculation, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Bima Bharati on April 3 filed nomination papers from the Purnea Lok Sabha seat in the presence of RJD leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav. Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, who had joined the Congress recently, will in all likelihood contest the seat as an Independent after RJD supremo Lalu Prasad did not pay attention to his appeal to forego the seat in favour of the Congress.

Election Commission reviews law and order in States and Union Territories

The Election Commission of India on April 3 met with top officials of all States and Union Territories to assess the law and order situation ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in order to prevent illicit activities and ensure strict vigil along inter-state and international borders.

DC vs KKR | Destructive Knight Riders batters make it a no contest

Sunil Narine top-scored with 85 (39b, 7×4, 7×6) as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) took apart Delhi Capitals’ (DC) bowling like cotton candy to post 272 for seven before going on to win by 106 runs at the Dr. YSR ACA-VDCA cricket stadium here on Wednesday.

New Delhi:

The Bharatiya Janata Party was the largest beneficiary of electoral bonds between April 2019 and January 2024 – companies donated Rs 5,594 crore in that period – the Election Commission of India said this week. The BJP pocketed over three times the amount (Rs 1,592 crore) the Trinamool Congress took home and more than four times the amount donated to its arch-rivals Congress (Rs 1,351 crore).

Fourth on the list was former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi, which was dumped out of power by the Congress in November; the BRS got Rs 1,191 crore.

Odisha’s Biju Janata Dal, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam from Tamil Nadu, and the YSR Congress Party and Telugu Desam Party from Andhra Pradesh are next on the list; the BJD got Rs 775 crore and the DMK got Rs 632 crore, while the TDP raked in Rs 211 crore and the YSRCP Rs 128 crore.

The last big name on the list is the Aam Aadmi Party, which got Rs 65 crore via electoral bonds.

READ | Electoral Bonds Codes Out, Donors Can Be Matched With Parties

Exactly how much each party received through the contentious electoral bonds – in a landmark verdict last month the Supreme Court called the scheme “unconstitutional” – has come to light after the State Bank of India released the alphanumeric codes that match donors to parties.

The SBI – hauled up by the court for first appearing to delay release of electoral bonds data and then neglecting to provide matching codes – submitted the data to the Election Commission on Thursday.

Under the rules, the SBI was the only bank allowed to issue electoral bonds; this, of course, was only till the top court ordered the scheme be scrapped and the public sector bank to stop selling bonds.

Earlier the SBI had released two lists – one of donors and the other of receiving political parties – but without the codes it was not possible to see which donor had given how much to which party.

What was apparent then was that companies like Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd., Qwik Supply Chain Pvt. Ltd., Vedanta, and the Bharti Group were among the top corporate donors.

How Much Did BJP Get From Electoral Bonds?

With the codes, it is now clear the BJP received Rs 584 crore from Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd., and Rs 375 crore from Qwik Supply Chain. Vedanta donated Rs 226 crore and Airtel Rs 183 crore. Other major donors included real estate giants DLF, which gave Rs 133 crore.

Also, Hyderabad-based Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd. – building the tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Silkyara, a portion of which collapsed last year – purchased Rs 55 crore worth of bonds for the BJP.

READ | Firm Building Uttarakhand Tunnel That Collapsed Gave 55 Crore To BJP

How Much Did Trinamool Get From Electoral Bonds?

The party second on the list of beneficiaries – Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool – received Rs 542 crore from Future Gaming & Hotel Services Pvt. Ltd., which is a Coimbatore-based lottery company. It is owned by a Colombian businessman called Santiago Martin, who runs lottery companies worldwide.

READ | Electoral Bonds: Trinamool Biggest Beneficiary Of ‘Lottery King’ Donor

Future Gaming is, in fact, the biggest buyer of electoral bonds; it has donated Rs 1,368 crore between April 2019 and January 2024. The company was in the headlines in July 2019 after the Enforcement Directorate attached assets worth Rs 250 crore in an alleged money laundering scam.

Besides Trinamool, Future Gaming also gave Rs 509 crore to the DMK and around Rs 160 crore to the YSR Congress Party, as well as Rs 100 crore to BJP, the data showed.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress also received Rs 281 crore from Haldia Energy and Rs 90 crore from Dhariwal Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. IFB Agro Industries Ltd., a beverage company with its office in Kolkata, donated Rs 42 crore. Chennai Green Woods, a real estate firm, gave Rs 40 crore.

How Much Did Congress Get From Electoral Bonds?

Meanwhile, the Congress – which today saw the Delhi High Court reject its challenge to re-assessment proceedings by the Income Tax Department – received Rs 110 crore in bonds from Western UP Power Transmission Company Ltd., a Ghaziabad-based firm.

It also received bonds from Vedanta – Rs 104 crore.

MKJ Enterprises, described as a “pioneer in the stainless steel business in India”, donated Rs 69 crore. Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital donated Rs 64 crore. Future Gaming donated Rs 50 crore.

The companies on the list of major donors to political parties in India are involved in various business, ranging from construction and manufacturing to mining and real estate. These are sectors where the role of a government is key, whether to make rules or big-ticket decisions, like tax cuts.

New Delhi:

The Election Commission today released data received from political parties on electoral bonds, which it had given to the Supreme Court in sealed covers.

“… The Registry of the Supreme Court has returned physical copies along with a digitised record of the same in a pen drive in sealed cover. The Election Commission of India has today uploaded the data received in digitised form from the registry of the Supreme Court on electoral bonds on its website,” the EC said in a statement today.

The EC released the data a day after it announced the dates for the Lok Sabha elections to be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1.

The latest documents released by the EC only show raw data of the date of the bonds, denominations, number of bonds, issuing State Bank of India (SBI) branch, date of receipt, and date of credit. It does not disclose the unique numbers of the bonds.

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court today came down hard on the State Bank of India for not sharing the complete data on electoral bonds, a scheme that allowed individuals and businesses to donate anonymously to political parties. The court had struck down the scheme and directed the bank to share all details on the donations made in the last 5 years.

Hearing a petition by the Election Commission, the Supreme Court said that the data provided by the Supreme Court was incomplete. The five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, directed SBI to disclose electoral bond numbers as well, in addition to the details it has already shared.

“Who is appearing for the State Bank of India? They have not disclosed the bond numbers. It has to be disclosed by the State Bank of India,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said right at the outset of the hearing.

In its notice to SBI, the Supreme Court bench has asked the bank to explain the lapse during the next hearing on March 18.

The electoral bond numbers would help establish the link between donors and political parties.

Electoral bonds allowed individuals and businesses to donate money to political parties without declaring it. They were introduced by the BJP government in 2018 as an alternative to cash donations and had been pitched as an initiative to bring transparency in political funding.

The Supreme Court struck down the scheme last month, terming it unconstitutional and over concerns that this could lead to a quid pro quo. The court also urged SBI to share all details about the purchase and redemption of the bonds with the Election Commission.

In its petition, the poll panel said the March 11 order had noted that the copies of the documents submitted by it to the court in a sealed cover during the course of the hearing be maintained at the office of the EC.

The EC said it did not keep any copy of the documents and added that those may be returned so that it can comply with the court’s directions.

A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court is scheduled on March 15 to hear an application filed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking the return of electoral bonds’ documents. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

Electoral bonds data | BJP received ₹6,060 crore, highest among all parties

The Bharatiya Janata Party encashed electoral bonds worth ₹6060.5 crore — the highest among all parties — between April 12, 2019 and January 24, 2024. In the period, BJP’s share in the total bonds encashed was over 47.5%. The All India Trinamool Congress received ₹1,609.50 crore (12.6%) via this route followed by the Congress ₹1,421.9 crore (11.1%), the second and third biggest parties in terms of encashment in the period.

Electoral bonds data | Future Gaming and Hotel Services purchased ₹1,368 crore worth electoral bonds, most among firms 

Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR whose managing director is the well known lottery magnate Santiago Martin, is the largest donor to political parties for the period April 12, 2019 to January 24, 2024, the electoral bonds data released by the Election Commission, on receipt from the State Bank of India, revealed.

B.S. Yediyurappa booked under POCSO Act

The Sadashivanagar police booked senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, 81, under a section of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) acting on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old of sexual assault.

ECI asks Supreme Court to return sealed electoral bonds documents

A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud is scheduled on March 15 to hear an application filed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking the return of electoral bonds’ documents handed over to the apex court in sealed cover/sealed boxes on two occasions. The application referred to a direction issued on March 11 by the Bench in its order that the “copies of the statements which were filed by the ECI before this court would be maintained in the office of the ECI”.

Petrol, diesel price cut by ₹2: Petroleum Minister

Oil companies have cut petrol and diesel prices by ₹2, effective from 6 a.m. on March 15, said Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. “Reduction in petrol and diesel prices will boost consumer spending and reduce operating costs for over 58 lakh heavy goods vehicles running on diesel, six crore cars and 27 crore two-wheelers,” Mr Puri said in a post on X.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee suffers injury after fall at residence

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was injured on her forehead after a fall at her Kalighat residence in Kolkata on. After a few tests, doctors found her stable to be discharged. She was then taken back home. There was widespread concern in the State after the incident. Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was seen at the health facility along with other Trinamool leaders.

Will find a way for people without documents to apply under CAA: Amit Shah

The Union government will soon find a way for people who do not have the required documents to apply for benefits under the Citizenship Amendment Act, (CAA), 2019, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said. In an interview with news agency ANI, Mr. Shah said that according to government estimates, 85% of the people seeking to apply under CAA have the required documents, adding that the government would soon find an alternative for those who do not have the requisite papers.

As Canada doubles down on Nijjar allegations, New Zealand says its stand on investigation has not changed

Canada said that it continues to “actively” investigate the killing of Khalistani separatist Canadian Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The comment, that came in response to statements by New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters during his visit to Delhi, where he spoke about the case in Canada, and evidence shared thus far by Canadian authorities. Canada and New Zealand are part of the “five eyes” intelligence sharing network along with the U.S., the United Kingdom and Australia, that regularly coordinate on security issues.

India seriously considering FTA with Eurasian Economic Union: Belarus Foreign Minister

India is “seriously considering” starting talks for a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the Foreign Minister of Belarus Sergei Aleinik declared during his two day visit to India. The remarks from the Belarusian Minister acquires significance as Belarus has been closely aligned with Russia even as President Vladimir Putin continues to push ahead with the military operation against Ukraine since February 2022. 

Rahul Gandhi promises GST exemption, loan waiver for farmers; offer prayers at Trimbakeshwar

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for working only for ‘media attention’ through actions like performing undersea pooja, flying on aircraft and visiting Pakistan and China borders while neglecting the urgent issues faced by farmers, including loan waiver for agrarian and export and import policies. The grand old party’s ally Nationalist Congress Party (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut joined the former Congress president in his yatra.

I&B Ministry blocks 18 OTT platforms and associated social media accounts for publishing vulgar content

The Information & Broadcasting Ministry has blocked 18 OTT platforms on the charge of publishing obscene and vulgar content. The 19 websites, 10 apps and 57 social media handles associated with these platforms have also been blocked nationwide. Among the blocked OTT platforms are Dreams Films, Voovi, Yessma, Uncut Adda, Tri Flicks, X Prime, Neon X VIP, Besharams, Hunters, Rabbit, Xtramood, Nuefliks, MoodX, Mojflix, Hot Shots VIP, Fugi, Chikooflix, and Prime Play. The Ministry said a significant portion of the content hosted on these platforms was found to be obscene, vulgar, and portrayed women in a demeaning manner.

Notification for granting pension to women issued in Himachal Pradesh

Facing criticism for not honouring a poll promise of giving ₹1,500 per month to women in the age bracket of 18 to 59 years, the Himachal Pradesh government issued a notification for granting pension under the Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojana. On March 4, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced that the State government will give ₹1,500 per month to women and said a sum of ₹800 crore would be spent on the initiative, benefitting more than five lakh women annually.

New Delhi:

In a big move towards transparency in political funding, the Election Commission of India has uploaded the data of the electoral bonds given to it by the State Bank of India. The details have been uploaded on Thursday, a day before the deadline set by the Supreme Court. 

The data pertains to purchases of bonds of denominations between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1 crore dating back to April 12, 2019, and reveals purchases by companies as well as individuals.  

The EC’s website has two lists. The first is of companies that purchased electoral bonds, along with the denomination and dates. The other has names of the political parties as well as the denominations of the bonds and the dates on which they were encashed. There is, however, no way of correlating the lists and finding out which company or individual had donated to which party. 

The company that contributed the most through the method is Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR, which bought bonds worth Rs 1,368 crore. Megha Engineering And Infrastructures Limited was second, purchasing bonds worth Rs 966 crore. 

At Rs 410 crore, Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited was a distant third, followed by Vedanta Limited at Rs 400 crore and Haldia Energy Limited at Rs 377 crore.

Bharti Group is sixth, having donated Rs 247 crore, followed by Essel Mining And Inds Ltd at Rs 224 crore. The remaining three in the list of top 10 donors are Western UP Power Transmission Company Limited, which contributed Rs 220 crore, Keventer Foodpark Infra Ltd, which gave Rs 195 crore, and Madanlal Ltd at Rs 185 crore.

The parties that encashed electoral bonds include the BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress, AAP, Samajwadi Party, AIADMK, BRS, Shiv Sena, TDP, YSR Congress, DMK, JDS, NCP, JDU and RJD.

Announcing that it has released the data, the poll body said in a statement, “The Election Commission of India has today uploaded the data on electoral bonds on its website as received from SBI on ‘as is where is basis'”. 

“It may be recalled that in the said matter, ECI has consistently and categorically weighed in favour of disclosure and transparency, a position reflected in the proceedings of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and noted in the order also,” it said. 

Advocate Prashant Bhushan – who had appeared for the Association of Democratic Reforms, one of the petitioners in the electoral bonds case – pointed out that the serial numbers of the bonds were not mentioned in the data. This, he said, was necessary to figure out who donated, and how much, to which party. He also claimed that contributions not being anonymous was implicit in the Supreme Court order.

“The Info of #ElectoralBonds uploaded by EC (which they say is as recd from SBI), does not give the serial number of the bonds, which is necessary for finding who gave bond to whom. This was implicit in SC Jt. SBI affidavit said this info is recorded though in separate silos,” Mr Bhushan posted on X.

The Info of #ElectoralBonds uploaded by EC (which they say is as recd from SBI), does not give the serial number of the bonds, which is necessary for finding who gave bond to whom. This was implicit in SC Jt. SBI affidavit said this info is recorded though in separate silos. pic.twitter.com/WTcq0pmDvR

— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) March 14, 2024

The data can be accessed here. 

Supreme Court’s Warning

During a hearing on Monday, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud had come down heavily on the SBI for “wilful disobedience of its order” on the data being handed over to the poll body by March 6. 

The court had ordered the SBI to submit the data to the Election Commission by Tuesday, warning it of contempt proceedings if it failed to do so. The court had also directed the chairman and managing director of the bank to file an affidavit after the order had been complied with.

SBI, which is India’s largest bank, had submitted the data on Tuesday and filed the affidavit in the court the day after that. The affidavit stated that 22,217 electoral bonds were issued between April 2019 and February 15, 2024, before the Supreme Court struck down the scheme after declaring it unconstitutional and arbitrary.

The bank said political parties had redeemed 22,030 bonds while the remaining 187 were redeemed and the money was deposited in the Prime Minister’s national relief fund, in accordance with the rules.

The Supreme Court will hear a petition filed by the Election Commission on the electoral bonds order on Friday.