Electoral bonds data 2nd list shows BJP was highest recipient in 2019-20: THIS is how much it encashed

The Election Commission of India on Sunday made public the second list on electoral bonds to fund the political parties in the country. The detailed data of the second electoral bonds list have made some new revelations like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was the highest recipient of the electoral bonds in the country. 

The saffron party encashed electoral bonds totalling ₹6,986.5 crore, with a maximum of ₹2,555 crore donations made during the financial year 2019-20, the data shared by the election commission revealed.

Sealed cover’ data of electoral bonds for the period March 2018-April 2019 made public by the election commission doesn’t include the names of the donors (barring a few parties who disclosed the names voluntarily).

"Data so received from political parties was deposited in the Supreme Court without opening sealed covers. In pursuance of the Supreme Court's order dated March 15, 2024, the Registry of the Supreme Court has returned physical copies along with a digitized record of the same in a pen drive in a sealed cover. The Election Commission of India has today uploaded the data received in the digitized form from the registry of the Supreme Court on electoral bonds on its website," the EC said.

According to the other details of the EC data, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was the second largest recipient after the BJP, the party received ₹1,397 crore through electoral bonds followed by Congress. The grand old party redeemed a total of ₹1,334.35 crore through electoral bonds.

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), formerly known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi, was the fourth largest recipient through electoral bonds. According to the EC data, the party led by K. Chandrashekar Rao encashed bonds worth ₹1,322 crore between 2019-20. 

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) received ₹656.5 crore through electoral bonds, including ₹509 crore from lottery king Santiago Martin's Future Gaming, the EC data revealed.