• Source:JND
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Electoral Bonds Case: Hours after the Election Commission released electoral bonds data on its official website, several opposition leaders slammed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its ‘undisclosed’ electoral bond funding. Some leaders also alleged a discrepancy in the number of entries in donor and recipient files. 

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Congress leader Amitabh Dubey on Thursday asked why the data shared by the State Bank of India with the Election Commission pertains to a period from April 2019 despite the scheme being introduced in 2017. 

"The donors' file has 18,871 entries, the recipients' file has 20,421 entries. Why the discrepancy @TheOfficialSBI?" Amitabh Dubey wrote on X. 

Youth Congress chief Srinivas BV also took a dig at the BJP over the electoral bonds data and wrote on X, “The meaning of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan 'Na khaunga na khane dunga' meant that “I will threaten companies, get ED raids done, collect donations, and keep filling BJP's coffers in the name of doing business.”

The Kerala unit of the Congress also reacted to the revelation of electoral bonds data and said, "The exposure of 'Organized Loot and Legalized Plunder' is underway. The dawn of poetic justice awaits". 

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also slammed the ruling BJP and said, “Election Commission data shows how much money BJP received through secret electoral bonds. Had to show the paper. The question is that if BJP has so much money then why are their trolls getting only ₹ 2 since 2014? This should be investigated."

Meanwhile, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who represented the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), one of the petitioners in the electoral bonds case, expressed concerns over SBI's unwillingness to share codes that could have established relationships between donors and the political parties.

“On April 23, Megha Engineering allocates hundreds of crores in #ElectoralBonds to whom? But within a month, it secures a 14,400 crore contract from BJP's Maharashtra government! Although SBI has concealed bond numbers, some correlations between donors and parties can be inferred. Most contributions appear to be transactional,” Bhushan wrote on X. 

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also questioned the involvement of institutions like hospitals in political funding. "And can’t imagine a hospital also spending on political funding. why Yashoda Hospital, why?" she wrote on the microblogging site. 

The electoral bonds data shared by the poll panel revealed that Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR made the highest contribution by purchasing bonds of Rs 1,368 crore. Megha Engineering And Infrastructures Limited reportedly ranked second, purchasing bonds worth Rs 966 crore. While Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited ranked third with Rs 410 crore. 

The electoral bonds scheme was notified by the government on January 2, 2018, as an alternative to the cash donations made to the political parties to bring transparency in political funding.

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