Electoral bonds: Many unanswered questions over TMC receiving Rs 1,396 crore

At least two Kolkata-based companies donated to political party/parties sums several times their profit or share capital by way of electoral bonds.

The biggest donor from the state is the FMCG company Keventer group. Of the bonds it purchased, a large chunk was through its firm Madanlal Ltd. Interestingly, it bought 199 bonds worth Rs 185.5 crore even though its collective net profits from 2018-19 through 2022-23 was only Rs 4.97 crore.

Another Kolkata-based company, Searock Infra Project, purchased bonds worth Rs 4.25 crore even though its total share capital is a mere Rs 6.40 lakh.

In terms of the sums donated, Keventer group was followed by the RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, Rungta Sons, and IFB groups, respectively. RP Goenka Group’s Haldia Energy donated Rs 377 crore out of its combined net profits of Rs 1,013 crore earned in three years for which data is available.

The IFB group, which has presence in food processing, electronic, and liquor sectors donated Rs 92 crore even though it made cumulative profits of Rs 175 crore from 2019 to 2023.

TMC’s whopping share

Even though it cannot be said yet that all of that went in favour of the state’s ruling party Trinamool Congress (TMC), the party’s fortune, as far as electoral bonds are concerned, shot up after it returned to power in the state for the third consecutive time in May 2021.

The party received over Rs 1397 crore through electoral bonds, only the second after the BJP. Moreover, Kolkata topped the list of cities that purchased the maximum number of electoral bonds — 7,834.

The TMC claims that it was unaware of who made the donations, as the bonds were either sent to its office or dropped in the drop box or sent through messengers by persons who preferred to remain anonymous, not many are willing to buy this claim.

It cannot be ascertained yet who were the donors to make such overwhelming contributions to Mamata Banerjee’s party fund after its 2021 victory, but these revelations raised many eyebrows as the TMC is in power only in one state.

Until the financial year ending 2021, the party encashed electoral bonds worth more than Rs 239 crore. But in the last three fiscal years, it received over Rs 1157 crore. Incidentally, more than 50 West Bengal-based companies and several individuals collectively purchased bonds worth over Rs 1,925 crore.

Quid pro quo?

These revelations have naturally aroused suspicion about some quid pro quo between the ruling party and the companies.

“The electoral bonds were a political bribe to secure contracts and benefits just like the cut-money culture in Bengal. The bond-revelation has exposed the similarities between the BJP and the TMC when it comes to corruption,” CPI(M) West Bengal state secretary Md Salim put it flatly.

The CPI(M) not only refused to take electoral bonds but also moved the court against the BJP-led Union government’s decision to introduce the scheme for political funding.

SC order

The Supreme Court on Monday (March 18) directed the SBI to furnish all details about the bonds available with it to the Election Commission of India by March 21.

The SBI, following a nudge from the apex court, had earlier provided to the ECI details of the purchasers of the bonds and names of the political parties that encashed those bonds. The ECI has uploaded the available details on its website.

However, the relation between the donors and the beneficiaries has not yet established. The disclosure of alphanumeric numbers will help link the purchasers of the bonds with the political parties that redeemed it. That may answer many unanswered questions.

After that, the TMC may need to do some explaining as well.