Kochi: The ruling BJP topped the list of political parties who used electoral bonds to raise funds from 2019 to 2023, according to media reports.The BJP used bonds worth Rs 6,986.5 crore, Trinamool Congress Rs 1,397 crore, Congress Rs 1,334 crore, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi Rs 1,322 crore among others.
The ruling BJD in Odisha got Rs 944.5 crore, the DMK Rs 656.5 crore, Andhra Pradesh’s ruling party YSR Congress Rs 442.8 crore and the like.The issue of electoral bonds first came up for discussion during the time of late A B Vajpayee’s government. Late Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee of Congress supported it in 2010.
Finally, Late Finance Minister Arun Jaitley notified it on January 2, 2018 as part of bringing transparency to political funding. The Supreme Court has scrapped it.The Election Commission of India uploaded the data to its website after the Supreme Court returned the details to the ECI.
