41 companies facing investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax Department (IT) have given Rs 2471 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through electoral bonds and of this Rs 1698 crore Given after the raids of these agencies.
This claim has been made by the activists challenging the electoral bond scheme in the Supreme Court.
Addressing the media after the Election Commission made public the new figures of electoral bonds, petitioners’ lawyer Prashant Bhushan said that at least 30 fake companies purchased electoral bonds worth more than Rs 143 crore.
He said 33 groups that had won 172 major contracts and projects from the government had also donated through electoral bonds.
“In return for donations of Rs 1,751 crore to the BJP through electoral bonds, those companies have received a total of Rs 3.7 lakh crore in projects and contracts,” he alleged.
Bhushan also claimed that 41 companies that faced raids by the ED, CBI and Income Tax Department gave Rs 2,471 crore to the BJP and of this, Rs 1,698 crore was given after these raids and Rs 121 crore in the three months immediately after the raids. Was given Rs.
Bhushan claimed that the Kalpataru Group had given Rs 5.5 crore to the BJP within three months of the IT department raid on August 3 last year.
He also said, “Future Gaming gave Rs 60 crore to BJP within three months of the raids by IT and ED on November 12, 2023 and December 1, 2021 respectively. “Aurobindo Pharma gave Rs 5 crore to BJP within three months of the ED raid on November 10, 2022.”
Bhushan described the electoral bond scheme as the biggest scam of independent India and alleged that four categories of corruption were done through it. He said, “The first one is – give donations, take business. The second is Haft-Vasuli (extortion), the third is take contract, give bribe and the fourth is fake company.
RTI activist Anjali Bhardwaj, the petitioner in the case, also demanded an independent investigation into the matter. He said, “Who will investigate the investigator? An independent SIT should be formed to investigate corruption committed through electoral bonds.