New Delhi: Financial services firms like Bajaj Finance, Piramal Enterprises, and Edelweiss Group together purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 123 crore between April 1, 2019 and January 2024. Piramal Enterprises, PHL Finvest Pvt Ltd and Piramal Capital and Housing Finance bought bonds worth Rs 60 crore during the period.
It was followed by three entities of Edelweiss Group, subscribing to Rs 40 crore bonds, while Bajaj Finance purchased bonds worth Rs 20 crore, as per the details published by the Election Commission of India on Thursday evening. Gold loan financier Muthoot Finance subscribed electoral bonds worth Rs 3 crore during the period.
However, the names of the recipient political parties were not disclosed. When reached, these companies did not offer immediate comment. As per the direction of the Supreme Court, the State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday evening submitted to the Election Commission the details of entities, which had purchased the now-scrapped electoral bonds and political parties which received them.
The SBI has issued electoral bonds worth Rs 16,518 crore in 30 tranches since the inception of the scheme in 2018. The Supreme Court, however, in a landmark verdict on February 15 scrapped the Centre's electoral bonds scheme that allowed anonymous political funding, calling it "unconstitutional" and ordered disclosure by the EC of donors, the amount donated by them and recipients.
