ELECTORAL BONDS DATA

first tranche of data on electoral bonds disclosed by the Election Commission of India on March 14, 2024, under the directions of the Supreme Court, provides an incomplete picture of the transactions that have taken place between various companies and individuals on the one hand and registered political parties on the other, between April 12, 2019 and January 24, 2024. WHAT NOW? The apex court has now directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to ensure “complete disclosure of all details in its possession” by March 21, 2024 including “the alphanumeric number and serial number of the Electoral Bonds which were purchased and redeemed”.

HOW MUCH AMOUNT WAS ENCASHED BY PARTIES?

WHY ALPHANUMERIC DETAILS ARE IMPORTANT? The SBI has recorded every detail of 18,871 purchases and 20,421 encashments of electoral bonds between April 2019 and January 2024. However, in the absence of the unique alphanumeric numbers, only the total amount of electoral bonds purchased by each company or individual can be estimated as also the total amount of electoral bonds each political party has encashed; but it is impossible to establish who has paid whom and when. IS THERE INFORMATION ASYMMETRY? The Union Government, as the owner of the SBI, is already in possession of the entire electoral bond database, which implies that the ruling party has access to complete information in this regard. Both the Opposition parties and the electorate, however, do not. Each political party other than the ruling party, knows about its own transactions only. The voters have no information beyond what has been disclosed by the Election Commission of India. This information asymmetry provides the ruling party with an undeserved advantage by virtue of its being the ruling incumbent. THE DATA The data disclosed so far provides ample grounds for suspecting malfeasance. Table provides a list of companies and corporate groups who have purchased electoral bonds worth over ₹100 crore. Thus list contains individuals who have purchased bonds worth Rs. 5 crore and above.

THE ANALYSIS

(A) Some of the largest purchasers of electoral bonds are under investigation by central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and/or the Income Tax (IT) Department. (B) If the bulk of the electoral bonds purchased by these companies, which are under investigation by central agencies like ED, CBI or IT department, are found to have been redeemed by the party in power, it would imply serious conflict of interest issues and probable quid pro quo. (C) The largest individual purchasers of electoral bonds are either heads of corporate groups and companies or their employees. It is clear that corporate houses and companies have tried to conceal their identities by deploying individual frontmen or making large donations in multiple small tranches. This generates suspicion of large scale bribery, money laundering and other forms of quid pro quo, like award of lucrative project contracts and policy changes in exchange for party donations.