Election Bonds Worth ₹ 16,000 Crore Sold Till 2022. Who Got How Much

New Delhi: 

The Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to be hit the hardest with the Supreme Court scrapping the electoral bonds scheme, as the party received over 60% of the donations made under the scheme between 2016-2022. Just months ahead of the Lok Sabha 2024 polls, a five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, declared the electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional. The court said that the scheme infringes upon the citizens’ fundamental right to information.

Electoral bonds are a financial instrument that allows individuals and businesses to make anonymous donations to political parties. They were introduced by the BJP government in 2018 as an alternative to cash donations. They were pitched as an initiative to bring transparency in political funding.

According to Election Commission data, 28,030 electoral bonds worth ₹ 16,437.63 crore were sold between 2016 and 2022.