Rs 2,083 cr electoral bonds: Hyderabad is third highest donor for political parties

HYDERABAD: Telangana capital Hyderabad emerged as the third highest donor for political parties among the Indian cities, raising electoral bonds worth Rs 2,083.507 crores, according to data and reports released by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

These bonds, aimed at funding political parties while protecting the anonymity of the donors, were purchased in Hyderabad in 25 phases between March 2018 and January 2023.

Mumbai (Rs 3,225.77 crore) ranked at the top among the Indian cities while Kolkata, with Rs 2,507.21 crore at the second spot ahead of Hyderabad in the list.

ADR analysed the total number and value of electoral bonds purchased and redeemed by political parties, branch-wise and denomination-wise, in 25 phases from March 2018 to January 2023.

As per its preliminary findings, a total of 21,171 electoral bonds raising Rs 12,008.59 crore were purchased in these phases. Interestingly, 21,003 bonds worth Rs 11,984.91 crore were redeemed by political parties during this period. Significantly, 37 percent of the total value of the electoral bonds were redeemed in three months in March, April and May 2019 during which the country went for Lok Sabha elections in different phases.

In the case of Hyderabad, Rs 2,083.50 crore were raised through a total of 3,013 electoral bonds. A total of 2,449 bonds worth Rs 1,442.08 crore were redeemed, presumably during the election time.

The ADR data also revealed that Rs 308.76 crore were raised through 437 electoral bonds between January 19 and 28 of 2023. These funds and those raised in the subsequent phase are speculated to be destined for Karnataka where the crucial Assembly elections are due in May 2023.

Of these, 68 electoral bonds worth Rs 53.15 crore were raised in Hyderabad alone.

Also, in an indication of the corporate sector being in the forefront of its donations to the parties, rather than individual benefactors, the ADR data revealed that 94 percent or Rs 11,303 crores of the total value of the bonds purchased were in the denomination of Rs 1 crore.

A major chunk of the total bonds were incidentally encashed in New Delhi where the headquarter offices of all the national parties are located. These amount to 13,494 electoral bonds valued at Rs 7,797.04 crore. In contrast to this, maximum value of bonds were purchased in Mumbai.