Did the opposition parties receive Rs.14,000 crores through electoral bonds as Amit Shah claimed?
Claim
The BJP received around Rs 6,000 crore through electoral bonds. The total bonds (of all parties) amounted to Rs 20,000 crore. So where did the rest of the bonds worth Rs 14,000 crore go? – Amit Shah
Rating
Explanation
State Bank of India submitted details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India following the Supreme Court’s order. The Election Commission has published those details on its official website. BJP tops the beneficiary list with Rs 6,060 crore through electoral bonds.
Meanwhile, when talking regarding Electoral Bonds in a program by India Today, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “The BJP received around Rs 6,000 crore through electoral bonds. The total bonds (of all parties) amounted to Rs 20,000 crore. So where did the rest of the bonds worth Rs 14,000 crore go?”
Home Minister Amit Shah on Electoral Bonds. BJP, with 303 MPs, got 6,000 crore through EBs, whereas Opposition with 242 MPs got 14,000 crore. How is the allegation that BJP got most funds true? When details emerge, those who are speaking against EBs, won’t know where to hide. pic.twitter.com/BuclK6JY4b
— Amit Malviya (मोदी का परिवार) (@amitmalviya) March 15, 2024
BJP National IT wing President, Amit Malviya posted a video clip of Amit Shah’s speech on his X page with the caption, “Home Minister Amit Shah on Electoral Bonds. BJP, with 303 MPs, got 6,000 crore through EBs, whereas Opposition with 242 MPs got 14,000 crore. How is the allegation that BJP got most funds true? When details emerge, those who are speaking against EBs, won’t know where to hide.”
What is the Truth?
When searching with relevant keywords we found no news in any reputed media that electoral bonds have been purchased for a total of 20,000 crore rupees. When searching the Election Commission‘s official social media handles, no such data was found.
With further search, we found a ‘Scroll‘ article featuring the information obtained from the State Bank of India under the Right to Information Act. It is reported that a total of 28,030 election bonds have been sold from March 2018 to February 2024. Its value is also stated as Rs 16,518 crore.
However, only the details of electoral bonds purchased from 12.04.2019 to 15.02.2024 are available. The value of 18,871 bonds purchased during this period is said to be Rs 12,516 crore.
Details of 9,159 electoral bonds purchased before the above said period i.e., between March 2018 and 11, April 2019 are yet to be disclosed. Its value is Rs 4,002 crore. If the amount of disclosed and undisclosed bonds sums up to Rs 16,518 crore, how can the electoral bonds be sold for Rs 20,000 crore as the Union Home Minister claim?
The money received by the BJP in the disclosed electoral bonds is Rs 6060 crore which is 47.5% of the total value. If the details of the 9,159 undisclosed bonds are revealed, the BJP will also have a stake in them further increasing the party’s share.
The original article is published in Tamil by Youturn on 16, March 2024.
Conclusion
This clarifies that the opposition parties did not receive Rs 14,000 crore as Amit Shah claimed. The electiral bonds have been sold for Rs 16,518 crore out of which, only the details for Rs.12,516 crore has been released so far.
