New Delhi: Ahead of the Assembly elections in five states, the government on Friday has given its nod for the issuance of the 19th tranche of electoral bonds, which will be open for sale from January 1 to 10.
Electoral bonds are being used as an alternative option to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding. However, Opposition parties were raising concerns about alleged opaqueness in funding through such bonds.
State Bank of India (SBI), in the 19th tranche of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through its 29 branches with effect from January 1 to 10, 2022, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
The 29 specified SBI branches are in cities such as Lucknow, Shimla, Dehradun Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Patna, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Gandhinagar, Bhopal, Raipur and Mumbai.
Assembly elections for five states--Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Goa-- are expected to be announced next month.
According to the provision of the scheme, electoral bonds can be purchased by the citizen of the country or company that has been established in the country. Only such political parties will be eligible for the purchase of electoral bonds, who had secured at least one per cent vote, of the total number of votes polled, in the previously held Assembly or Lok Sabha elections.
PTI
