SBI Electoral Bonds data: BJP gets lion's share of over Rs 6,061 crore; TMC, Congress receive most funding

The Bharatiya Janata Party, Trinamool Congress, and the Congress are among the top three political parties that benefitted from the electoral bonds, according to data uploaded by the Election Commission on its website on Thursday. 

The data on electoral bonds was made public after the State Bank of India, following the Supreme Court's order, submitted it to the election body.

According to the data, This information became public following the Supreme Court's directive to the State Bank of India to submit the relevant data. 

The BJP received over Rs 6,061 crore, TMC Rs 1,610 crore, and Congress Rs 1,422 crore in funding via electoral bonds. Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Biju Janta Dal received Rs 1,215 crore and Rs 776 crore respectively.

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Apart from these political parties, the other recipients of the electoral bond fund are All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Shiv Sena, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSR Congress), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Janata Dal (Secular) (JDS), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Janata Dal (United)(JDU), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), SP (Samajwadi Party), and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). 

The SBI had previously stated that the BJP encashed the highest value of bonds, amounting to 47% or Rs 6,060 crore of the total. This was followed by TMC with 13% or Rs 1,609 crore, and Congress with 11% or Rs 1,421 crore. The SBI issued bonds worth Rs 16,518 crore in 30 tranches from April 2019 to February 15, 2024. 

The SBI had said it had issued bonds worth Rs 16,518 crore in 30 tranches between April 2019 and February 15, 2024. 

The list of bond purchases has entries until January 11, 2024, while the list of bond encashments has entries until January 24, 2024—likely the reason why the totals do not match with the one given by the SBI.