Indian Electoral bonds: BJP leads in donations, TMC leaves behind Congress

Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) redeemed electoral bonds of much higher value than the Congress, the Election Commission of India's data revealed on Thursday. The Bharatiya Janata Party received the highest sum among all political parties through the electoral bonds scheme.

While many top corporate houses featured on the list of those who purchased the bonds, the biggest donor turned out to be a Tamil Nadu-based lottery firm.

Here are the top takeaways from the electoral bonds list

1. The ECI has uploaded two documents. According to them, 1260 companies and people have bought 22217 bonds worth ₹12,155.51 between 2019 and 2024. 23 political parties have redeemed these bonds.
2. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) redeemed bonds worth ₹6061 crore. Surprisingly, the Trinamool Congress was second on the list with bonds worth ₹1610 crore. The Congress is in the third spot with ₹1422 crore.
3. Tamil Nadu-based Future Gaming and Hotel Services donated the biggest sum in these five years -- ₹1368 crore. Andhra Pradesh-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited donated ₹891 crore, Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited donated ₹410 crore, Vedanta Limited donated 400 crore and Haldia Energy Limited donated ₹377 crore.
4. Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, Sunil Bharti Mittal's Bharti Airtel, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, DLF, PVR, Birlas, Bajajs, Jindals, Spicejet, IndiGo and the Goenkas are among the notable names who donated to the parties.
5. Sunil Mittal's three companies together purchased a total of ₹246 crore worth of bonds. Lakshmi Niwas Mittal bought ₹35 crore worth of bonds in individual capacity.
6. The donations made to the Congress and the Samajwadi Party were made in the name of 'President, All India Congress Committee' and 'Adyaksha Samajwadi Party', reported PTI.
7. The SBI had informed the Supreme Court that out of 22,217 electoral bonds, 22030 were redeemed between April 1, 2019 and February 15.
8. The buyers of electoral bonds included Spicejet, IndiGo, Grasim Industries, Megha Engineering, Piramal Enterprises, Torrent Power, Bharti Airtel, DLF Commercial Developers, Vedanta Ltd., Apollo Tyres, Edelweiss, PVR, Keventer, Sula Wines, Welspun, Sun Pharma, Vardhman Textiles, Jindal Group, Phillips Carbon Black Limited, CEAT tyres, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, ITC, Kaypee Enterprises, Cipla, and Ultratech Cement.
9. The political parties that benefited from the scheme include -- the BJP, Congress, AIADMK, BRS, Shiv Sena, TDP, YSR Congress, DMK, JD-S, NCP, Trinamool Congress, JDU, RJD, AAP, the Samajwadi Party, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, BJD, Goa Forward Party, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, JMM, Sikkim Democratic Front and the Jana Sena Party.
10. Among the individuals who donated through electoral bonds are Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Varun Gupta, B K Goenka, Jainendra Shah and one person going by only the first name of Monika. Bajaj Auto bought bonds worth ₹18 crore, Bajaj Finance ₹20 crore, three IndiGo firms ₹36 crore, Spicejet ₹65 lakh, and Rahul Bhatia of IndiGo bought bonds worth ₹20 crore.