The much-awaited data on electoral bonds was finally uploaded on the Election Commission’s website on Thursday evening, throwing in public domain names of business tycoons, individuals, regional players and lesser-known entities who purchased the now-scrapped electoral bonds aggregating crores of rupees.
The data gave a fair idea of who were the big contributors. Future Gaming & Hotel Services topped the list with Rs 1,368 crore while Megha Engineering & Infra Ltd (Rs 966 crore), Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd (Rs 410 crore), Vedanta Ltd (Rs 400 crore) and Halida Energy Ltd (Rs 377 crore) were the other top four in the list. The data also showed that the BJP hogged a major chunk of the funding at Rs 6,061 crore while the TMC had a share of Rs 1,610 crore. The Congress emerged third with Rs 1,422 crore.
As per the details provided by the bank, 22,217 electoral bonds were used for donating to political parties. With each bond having two sets of information ” donors and receivers, the bank was required to decode over 44,000 sets of information and draw a co-relation. The crux of the matter is the people’s ‘right to know’. While people were gazing at the names of big business houses and bonds they purchased, the data only created a mathematical illusion.
If we may recall, the five-judge bench of the Supreme Court has been persistently pursuing the matter asking the State Bank of India to provide all information on electoral bonds ” including details on who purchased the bonds and which party received them. The steadfast approach of the court was evident from the fact that it did not allow SBI to extend the March 13 deadline. In itself, the SBI appeal for time till June 30 meant that the top bank was only trying to avoid an impact on the ensuing election, when it could have given at least respective codes.
The bottom line is that the system remains opaque. The corporate-political cross-connections and the “legitimate possibility that financial donations have led to quid pro arrangements” have not been addressed through the available data. The data uploaded on the website is exhaustive running into more than 750 pages and shows entries of bonds purchased between the range of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore. There are varying amounts and multiple entries against each entity, but there are no direct links or bond numbers that show who or which party has been a beneficiary. The data only provides a broad view of the corporate contributions to the political system but conceals more than what it is revealing.
The information in its current form would lead to unnecessary chaos since political parties would use it to speculate, mislead and divert public attention. Social media is already abuzz with political leaders making speculative linkages to the parties and beneficiaries. The court directive to the bank to furnish unique identification numbers is a welcome step towards lifting the veil of secrecy on political funding mechanisms. For now, one is left wondering why the SBI is withholding critical information when the objective is clear.
