The Aditya Birla group, Bajaj group, and Bajaj Finserv donated Rs 11 crore via electoral bonds (EBs) to three political parties, viz., the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and the Janata Dal (Secular), till May 2019, per data published by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on its website.
The Aditya Birla group donated Rs 50 lakh on April 5, 2019, to JDS, and the Bajaj group donated Rs 3 crore to AAP till May 29, 2019, according to the data. Bajaj Finserv donated Rs 50 lakh on March 12, 2019, and Rs 7 crore on March 13, 2019, to the NCP.
These are among the few parties who have disclosed the names of their donors. Other political parties, such as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), and the Congress have not yet disclosed the names of their benefactors.
All these donations were made near or during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which were held in seven phases, from 11 April to 19 May.
Last week, the ECI approached the Supreme Court (SC), asking it for the data before April 2019, to make it public.
Political parties had submitted data on electoral bonds in a sealed cover to the SC, as directed by it. Subsequently, the SC registrar shared the physical copies of the data, along with a pen drive with a digitised record of the same, in a sealed cover with the ECI.
Emails sent to all these companies for responses remained unanswered till the publishing of this story. The story will be updated once the companies respond to Moneycontrol’s queries.
Also read: Electoral Bonds: SC asks SBI to furnish all details available with it, asks CMD to file affidavit
Other donations
JDS received total donations of Rs 23.75 crore during the assembly elections of May 2018, and Rs 25 crore during the Lok Sabha elections of 2019, as per the data.
The biggest purchaser of EBs has been Megha Engineering and Infrastructure (MEIL), followed by the Embassy group — which donated Rs 22 crore to JDS — and JSW.
NCP’s documents showed that it had deposited bonds worth Rs 37.75 crore, while it had received bonds worth Rs 50.51 crore.
Atul Chordia contributed Rs 5 crore, Avinash Bhosle subscribed to bonds amounting to Rs 4.5 crore, and Cyrus Poonawala donated Rs 75 lakh to the NCP.
Apart from the Bajaj group, Torrent Pharmaceuticals and B G Shirke Construction Technology donated Rs 1 crore each to AAP, and KMZ Investments donated Rs 50 lakh.
NBFC donations after April 2019
At least 10 NBFCs donated Rs 126.98 crore to political parties through electoral bonds between April 12, 2019, and January 5, 2024, as per data released by the State Bank of India (SBI).
These include Bajaj Finance, Muthoot Finance, Piramal Capital and Housing Finance, ECL Finance, and Infina Finance, among others. According to the data, Bajaj Finance donated Rs 20 crore, Piramal Capital and Housing Finance donated Rs 10 crore, and Infina Finance donated Rs 60 crore.
Also read: Megha Engineering: Electoral bonds scheme unveils an infra giant out of a little-known entity
Electoral bonds case
In February, 2024, the SC struck down electoral bonds as unconstitutional on the ground that non-disclosure of information regarding the funding of political parties is violative of the right to information of citizens. The top court directed the SBI to furnish all the data related to electoral bonds.
However, on March 4, the SBI moved an application seeking an extension till June 30 to disclose the details . The court dismissed the plea, directing the SBI to share all the details with the ECI by March 12, and asked the EC to publish it by March 15.
While the SBI had said it would require time to match the details of the donors with the political parties they have donated to, the SC clarified that it need not do so, and would have to submit the details that are available with it.
Accordingly, the SBI furnished the details to the ECI on March 12, and on March 14, the EC published the same on its website.
On March 17, the ECI released further information regarding electoral bonds, including the amount redeemed per political party. The data was published after the apex court passed an order returning all the details regarding the bonds that the ECI had submitted to it in November 2023.
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