New Delhi: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to be hit the hardest with the supreme court scrapping the said scheme as the party has received over 60% of the donations made under the scheme between 2016-2022. A five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, declared the electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional Just months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The court said that the scheme infringes upon the citizens’ fundamental right to information.
Electoral bonds are a financial instrument that allows individuals and businesses to make anonymous donations to political parties. They were introduced by the BJP government in 2018 as an alternative to cash donations. They were pitched as an initiative to bring transparency in political funding.
According to Election Commission data, 28,030 electoral bonds worth ₹ 16,437.63 crore were sold between 2016 and 2022.
BJP got 10,122 crore
The ruling Bhartiya Janta Party was the primary beneficiary of these donations and received ₹ 10,122 crore, nearly 60% of the total donations. The main opposition Congress party came a distant second, receiving ₹ 1,547 crore or 10 per cent in the same period, while West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress got ₹ 823 crore or 8 per cent of all electoral bonds.
Donations made to the BJP through electoral bonds were three times more than that of all other 30 parties combined on the list.