JOIN USElectoral bonds: 822 cr sold in May, 819 cr encashed
NEW DELHI, DHNS: Electoral bonds worth Rs 822.25 crore were sold in May, taking the total sale this year to Rs 2,538.30 crore and registering a 140.20% rise from last year's sale.
According to an RTI response by the State Bank of India (SBI) given to Pune-based Vihar Durve, electoral bonds worth Rs 822.25 crore were sold between May 6 and May 24. Electoral bonds are sold by the SBI branches after the Ministry of Finance issues a notification for a given period and it was the ninth edition of electoral bond sale.
The RTI response showed that bonds worth Rs 370.45 crore were bought from Kolkata Main SBI Branch while bonds worth Rs 209.25 crore were bought from Mumbai and Rs 112.90 crore worth bonds from New Delhi.
During this period, electoral bonds worth Rs 819.25 crore were encashed. Of this, Rs 759.70 crore worth bonds were encashed from New Delhi.
In an earlier RTI response, the SBI had informed Durve that 12 CBI branches sold electoral bonds worth Rs 1,716.05 crore in January and March early this year, with Mumbai topping the list with Rs 405.60 crore followed by Kolkata (Rs 370.07 crore), Hyderabad (Rs 290.50 crore) and New Delhi (Rs 205.92 crore).
The SBI had sold electoral bonds worth Rs 1,056.73 crore in six rounds in 2018 – March, April, May, July, October and November. Last year too, Mumbai topped the list with the sale of Rs 382.70 crore electoral bonds.
When Karnataka went to Assembly polls last year, Bengaluru had sold electoral bonds worth Rs 82.75. However, this year, it sold Rs 17.25 crore in January and March.
The electoral bonds had attracted criticism from Opposition parties with Congress, Trinamool Congress and CPM alleging that it was benefiting the ruling BJP. The audit reports and income tax reports submitted by parties to the Election Commission showed that the BJP has been the biggest beneficiary of electoral bonds, garnering 94.5% of the bonds worth around Rs 210 crore in 2017-18.
Did you know?
What is an Electoral Bond?
It is a bearer Banking Instrument to be used for funding eligible parties
What is the validity/maturity of electoral bonds?
Electoral bond is valid for 15 days from the date of issue. For example, an electoral bond issued on 1 April, 2019 will be valid up to 15 April, 2019
Can an individual redeem these electoral bonds in any account?
No. These can be redeemed only by an eligible political party after depositing the same in their designated bank account maintained with the authorised bank
Sale of electoral bonds in 2018
Rs 1056,73,42,000
Sale of electoral bonds in 2019
January and March: Rs 1716,05,14,000
May: Rs 822,25,79,000
Total sale in 2019: Rs 2538,30,93,000