Gadkari reveals Centre's 'good intention' behind electoral bonds scheme
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has defended the Centre's scrapped electoral bonds scheme, saying the government had "good intentions" when it was introduced in 2017. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader also urged all political parties to sit together and deliberate if the Supreme Court gives further direction on the matter. The scheme was recently struck down by the SC, which deemed it "unconstitutional" and a breach of the Right to Information (RTI).
Why does this story matter?
In February, a five-judge constitution bench of the SC declared the electoral bond scheme "unconstitutional" and ordered the State Bank of India (SBI) to disclose contributors by March 12. On March 12, the bank disclosed the first tranche of details of bond purchasers and recipients, which has since been uploaded to the Election Commission of India website. The SBI disclosed all details related to electoral bonds to the ECI on March 21.
Electoral bonds promote transparency, asserts Gadkari
While speaking at an event organized by a media house in Gujarat's Gandhinagar, Gadkari argued that the "main intention behind introducing electoral bonds was that political parties get funds directly." Furthermore, the union minister clarified that the names of the donors weren't disclosed because "problems arise if the party in power changes."
Gadkari recalls electoral bond discussions
Regarding the initial talks over the scheme, the senior BJP leader recalled, "When Arun Jaitley was (union finance) minister, I was part of that discussion (regarding electoral bonds)." "No party can survive without resources. In some countries, governments fund political parties. There is no such system in India. Thus, we chose this system of financing political parties," he added.
All you need to know about electoral bonds
Electoral bonds allow anonymous Indians or corporations to donate money to political parties. The bonds are available in multiples of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. 10 lakh, and Rs. 1 crore and can be purchased at approved SBI offices. A donor can give these bonds to one party or parties that could decide to cash them within 15 days. This ensured that the identity of the donor remained anonymous.
BJP got 84% of electoral bonds
The latest tranche of data released by the ECI on Thursday showed that the BJP received 84% of all monies that flowed in via bonds. Between April 12, 2019 and January 11, 2024, the top 10 individual donors purchased electoral bonds totaling Rs. 180.2 crore, of which Rs. 152.2 crore (84.5%) was donated to the BJP. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) was the second biggest recipient, receiving Rs. 16.2 crores, or approximately 9% of the funds.
