Electoral bonds worth of Rs 6,128 crore were sold between March 2018 to October 2019 (when scheme was launched), with more than half that amount — a whopping Rs 3,622 crore — sold just ahead of the May 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report, a total of Rs 1,366 crore worth of electoral bonds were sold in March 2019, rising to
Rs 2,256 crore in April in the run-up to the elections in May 2019.
The highest number of electoral bonds worth Rs 1,880 crore were sold in Mumbai, followed by Rs 1,440 crore in Kolkata, Rs 919 crore in New Delhi and Rs 383 crore in Hyderabad. The donors bought 1,459 electoral bonds of denomination of Rs 10 lakh and 1,258 bonds of Rs one crore denomination. They purchased 318 bonds of Rs one lakh,
12 bonds of Rs 10,000 and 24 bonds of Rs 1000 denomination. Parties redeemed electoral bonds worth Rs 1,395.89 crore.
Electoral bonds was launched on March 1 last year by the Modi government as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties. The idea was to increase transparency in political funding and curb the usage of black money. The Centre subsequently notified the Electoral Bonds Scheme in January this year.
An electoral bond is like a Promissory Note, similar to a banknote, that is payable to the bearer on demand and free of interest. It can be purchased by any Indian citizen or a body corporate in India. An electoral bond may be issued in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1 crore and are available at specified branches of the State Bank of India.
A donor can purchase an electoral bond with a KYC-compliant account and can donate the bonds to their party of choice, which can then be cashed through the party’s verified account within 15
days.
Any political party that is registered under Section 29 A of the Representation of People Act, 1951, and has secured not less than 1 per cent of the votes polled in the last elections to the Lok Sabha or legislative Assembly will be eligible to receive electoral bonds.