₹ 3622 Crores is the amount of Electoral Bonds purchased in March & April 2019﻿
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 17, 2019
In just March & April 2019, electoral bonds worth ₹3622 crores were purchased, which is almost equal to the combined 3-year income of the 7 National Parties. This amount is also more or less equal to the expenditure incurred in conducting the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
The Supreme Court (SC) had recentlypassed interim directions on the issue of ‘Electoral Bonds’that mandates political parties to disclose in a sealed cover to the ElectionCommission of India (ECI), the names of donors of these bonds by 30 May, 2018. Data from March & April 2019 cycles indicates that a total of  ₹3622 crores worth electoral bonds werepurchased in just these 2 months.
This amount is almost equal to the combined 3-year income of National parties
This amount of ₹ 3622 croresalmost equal to the combined 3-year income of the 7 national parties from2015-16 to 2017-18. The 7 national parties reported a combined income of ₹ 3990 crores in the 3-year period between 2015-16 and2017-18. On the other hand, this amount is also more or less equal to the expenditure incurred (₹ 3870 crores) on conducting the 16 Lok Sabha general elections in 2014.As noted before in one of our stories, such largeamounts of anonymous donations to political parties severely vitiates the free& fair election process.
What are Electoral Bonds?
Electoral Bonds are bearer bankinginstruments that can be used to donate to political parties. One can read this Factly article to understand in detail about the electoral bondsystem. The biggest issue with electoral bonds is the anonymity. Except thebanking system (SBI), hence the government, the donor & the politicalparty, nobody else would know the identity of the donor.
Bonds purchased in March & April
2019 are 2.5 times the amount purchased in earlier phases
Electoral Bonds have been on salefor 9 phases since their introduction. A total of ₹ 1407 crores worth electoral bonds were purchasedduring the first 7 phases. In contrast, a total of ₹ 3622 crores worthbonds were purchased in just March & April 2019 as per the data shared bySBI in response to an application under RTI. In other words, bonds purchased inMarch & April 2019 are 2.5 times the amount of bonds purchased in the firstseven phases.
Four branches account for more than
80% of the bonds purchased in March & April 2019
Of the electoral bonds purchased inMarch & April 2019 across various branches of SBI, the four branches ofDelhi, Mumbai, Kolkata & Hyderabad accounted for 81.28% or ₹ 2944 crores worthbonds. The remaining 12 branches (where bonds were purchased) accounted for18.72% or ₹ 678 crores worth bonds.
99.7% of the bonds purchased in the denomination of ₹ 10 lakh & ₹ 1 Crore
Together in all the 9 cycles till April 2019, bonds worth a total of ₹  5029 crores were purchased.  Out of these, bonds in the denomination of ₹ 1 crore accounted for 91.07% or ₹ 4580 crores. Further, bonds in the denomination of ₹ 10 lakh accounted for 8.63% or ₹ 434.2 crores Together, bonds in the denomination of ₹ 10 lakh & ₹ 1 crore accounted for 99.7% of all the bonds purchased so far, reinforcing the belief that only corporates are purchasing the bonds.