Bonding with the Bonds

The revelation of donor-recipient connections in electoral bonds may cause discomfort to the BJP-the biggest beneficiary. But many others are looking for cover, too

- Snigdhendu Bhattacharya

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi’s famous anticorruption promise—na khuanga, na khane dunga (neither would he indulge in corruption nor would he allow anyone)—is set to face an acid test just at the time when the country’s eighteenth parliamentary election preparations are reaching the final stage. 

The election dates have been announced, parties have started naming candidates and seat-sharing adjustments between allies are being finalised. The rules of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) have been notified, rekindling memories of the 2019 protests due to the sharp polarising ability of the legislation. Former President Ramnath Kovind-led committee has submitted its report recommending “one nation, one election” in the country— another highly controversial and polarising subject. 

But it is the developments at the Supreme Court and the resultant release of hitherto secret information on anonymous political funding through electoral bonds that continue to grab public attention. Such an amount of corporate donations has never entered India’s political party system, at least not through formal channels. 

The most crucial part of the data—the secret serial numbers of electoral bonds visible only under ultraviolet rays that can connect donors with the recipients of funds—is yet to be published. Even without them, it has become evident that PM Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made massive fortunes since the introduction of the electoral bond scheme in 2018. The top court scrapped it in February, calling it unconstitutional and violative of the electors’ right to know the funders of political parties.