Bulk of over Rs 12,000 cr electoral bonds sold donated to BJP: Chidambaram

Former Union Finance Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram has alleged that the bulk of the amount of over Rs 12,000 crore electoral bonds sold so far has been donated to the BJP anonymously.

In a series of tweets on Monday, the Congress leader said, "Over Rs 12,000 crore worth Electoral Bonds sold so far. The bulk of the amount has been purchased by corporates and donated to the BJP anonymously."

He further slammed the corporates for donating money through electoral bonds to the government.

"Why are corporates so eager to donate through the non-transparent Electoral Bonds mechanism? Corporates do not donate through Electoral Bonds because they love democracy. Corporate donation is the way to express their thanks to the Government for the numerous favours they had got in the past years. It is a neat arrangement. Favours are done quietly. Rewards are received secretly. Long live our anonymous Democracy," he added.

The eectoral bonds scheme was floated by the NDA government in 2018 to cleanse the system of political funding in the country.

Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding.

The electoral bonds can be purchased by a person who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Only the political parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and which secured not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last General Election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of the State, will be eligible to receive the electoral bonds.

The electoral bonds will be encashed by an eligible political party only through a bank account with the authorised bank.