Large Corporations Transferred Crores in Electoral Bonds Donations via Unidentified Entities, Says Reporter's Collective
An investigative report by The Reporter's Collective reveals how major corporations funnel millions into political parties through Electoral Bonds, maintaining anonymity
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An independent journalism website called The Reporter's Collective dug into the Electoral Bonds donation data and discovered that, under mysterious circumstances, businesses and individuals gave significant sums of money to political parties. Their investigation highlighted several corporate donations to politics, including
1)A company from the Kotak group, linked to billionaire banker Uday Kotak, who had previously questioned the transparency of electoral bonds, donated crores using this scheme.
2)A firm associated with YSR Congress Party MP Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy, known for real estate and infrastructure, donated over ₹100 crore.
3)A key accounts manager from Reliance Industries, Laxmidas Vallabhdas Merchant, and a Reliance-linked company, Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd, were among the top donors, with the latter being the third-largest donor by purchasing ₹410 crore in bonds.
Electoral bonds have been a major way for political parties in India to receive funds, but they've been controversial because they allow donations without revealing where the money came from or where it's going.
The Supreme Court recently declared electoral bonds unconstitutional because they conceal the identities of Electoral Bonds donors from the public, which goes against voters' rights to know who funds political parties.
The report also noted that just before the 2019 general elections, a Kotak group company bought bonds worth ₹60 crore, despite Uday Kotak's own reservations about the scheme. Additionally, following a tax evasion raid, a company founded by MP Reddy began using electoral bonds for political funding in India, contributing ₹105 crore to parties.
Qwik Supply Chain Pvt. Ltd., despite being relatively unknown and linked to Reliance Industries, bought a huge amount of electoral bonds. Although a Reliance spokesperson said it's not a subsidiary, its donations sparked the Electoral Bonds controversy.
These findings suggest that the Electoral Bonds Scheme allowed for anonymous donations, enabling big companies and individuals to support political parties without public accountability.
