Bharatiya Janata Party retains top spot with more donations than rivals

By Bibhudatta Pradhan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party mopped up nearly three times more funds than India’s other national parties via electoral bonds, giving it a huge advantage ahead of several provincial polls this year and national elections due in 2024.
 

The Bharatiya Janata Party received nearly 52.72 billion rupees ($640 million) through the controversial funding tool that allows companies to donate to political parties anonymously, while other main national parties got 17.83 billion rupees in six years to 2022, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms, based on data from India’s independent Election Commission.

The main opposition Congress party received just 9.52 billion rupees via this funding instrument during the same period. 

Political funding in India has never been entirely transparent. Undocumented cash — known as black money — has long been reported as a key part of how political parties finance their electoral campaigns. Rights activists allege the electoral bond program, allowing anonymous donations, further reduces transparency in the world’s biggest democracy.

Anyone can buy an electoral bond at the government-owned State Bank of India in denominations ranging from 1,000 rupees to 10 million rupees. Afterward they are delivered to a political party, which can exchange them for cash. They don’t carry the name of the donor and are exempt from tax.

The electoral bond scheme was introduced in 2018. India held general elections in 2019 and the BJP and Modi won by a huge margin and returned to office for a second term.

The BJP also received 32.99 billion rupees in direct donations from corporations, significantly ahead of the Congress party’s 4.06 billion rupees. The total donations, including electoral bonds and direct corporate donations, declared by the BJP was more than three times the total funds declared by all other national parties, including the main rival Congress, according to ADR’s report.