As per the data obtained under the Right to Information Act from the State Bank of India, a vast majority of electoral bonds sold to finance political campaigns were centred around five cities – Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, New Delhi, and Chennai. These cities were responsible for close to 90% of the total electoral bonds sold so far, whereas Bengaluru, known as the technology capital of India, contributed only slightly over 2% of the total sales. This data points to a significant imbalance in political funding, concentrated in just a few cities.The State Bank of India disclosed on May 4 that from the commencement of the electoral bonds program in 2018 to the latest sale in April 2023, which was the 26th tranche, bonds amounting to Rs 12,979.10 crore had been sold.Image Source: mm.bing.netDuring the same period, political parties encashed electoral bonds worth Rs 12,955.26 crore. As per the State Bank of Indias response to the RTI application, 25 political parties established specific bank accounts with the bank to redeem these bonds. This scheme permits anonymous political funding by Indian individuals and corporations.Since 2017, the Supreme Court has been considering a series of petitions challenging the electoral bonds schemes legality on several grounds. The court has not yet determined whether the matter should be referred to a Constitution Bench. According to the courts automated listing system, the next hearing is slated for May 9.Among the 29 branches of the State Bank of India where the electoral bond scheme is available, Mumbai, the financial capital of India, had the highest sales with Rs 3,395.15 crore, accounting for 26.16% of the total bonds sold to date. Kolkata, Hyderabad, New Delhi, and Chennai were the other cities in the top five, with sales of Rs 2,704.62 crore (20.84%), Rs 2,418.81 crore (18.64%), Rs 1,847 crore (14.23%), and Rs 1,253.20 crore (9.66%), respectively.Bengaluru, the capital city of the election-bound state of Karnataka, secured seventh position with sales of Rs 266.90 crore, accounting for 2.06% of the total. Bhubaneswar ranked ahead of Bengaluru with sales worth Rs 407.26 crore or 3.14% of the total sales.Although the sales data indicates that political funding is primarily coming from five major cities, the New Delhi branch of the State Bank of India is the favoured option for redeeming the electoral bonds.Image source: mm.bing.netOut of the total amount of electoral bonds that have been redeemed to date, 64.55% or Rs 8,362.84 crore was encashed in New Delhi, where national parties are likely to have their accounts. Hyderabad came in second place with 12.37% (Rs.1,602.19 crore), followed by Kolkata in third place with 10.01% (Rs.1,297.44 crore), Bhubaneswar with 5.96% (Rs.771.50 crore), and Chennai with 5.11% (Rs.662.55 crore). Although Mumbai had over 26% of all sales, it accounted for only 1.51% of all electoral bonds redeemed.The Electoral Bond Scheme was launched in January 2018 with the first sales tranche held in March of that year. Initially, the scheme was introduced for a 10-day period in January, April, July, and October, and an additional 30-day period during the year of Lok Sabha elections. In November 2022, the Finance Ministry amended the scheme to allow an additional 15 days of sales in any year with an Assembly election.To redeem electoral bonds, a party must have a designated bank account with one of the 29 authorised SBI branches. To open an account, the party needs to have secured at least 1% of the votes in the most recent Lok Sabha polls, or in case of a state party, in the most recent Assembly elections.Since the scheme allows for anonymous donations, the SBI does not reveal which party holds an account at which branch.
