The Election Commission's release of the electoral bond details revealed the amounts received by each party, with the BJP emerging as the single party redeeming Rs 8,251.8 crore out of the electoral bonds sold, which amounted to approximately Rs 16,518 crore.
However, amidst these revelations, BJP leaders have been accused of attempting to mislead the public regarding the extent of their gains from the electoral bonds scheme. Delhi BJP leader R.P. Singh, in a statement to ANI, inflated the total amount of bonds to Rs 20,000 crore and diminished the BJP's redemptions, a claim that was not challenged by the news agency.
This astonishing figure accounts for nearly half of all bonds sold, solidifying the BJP's dominance in this financial arena. Following at a distant second is the Congress party, with a comparatively meagre sum of Rs 1,952 crore in redeemed bonds, trailed closely by the Trinamool Congress at Rs 1,705 crore.
Further scrutiny revealed that Singh's erroneous figures echoed those articulated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his address at the India Today Conclave. Shah, in his speech, asserted that the BJP had received around Rs 6,000 crore through electoral bonds out of a purported total of Rs 20,000 crore, insinuating a disparity in the distribution of bonds among political factions.
Critics argue that such statements, emanating from high-ranking BJP officials, are deliberately misleading.
Despite the timing of Shah's remarks preceding the latest disclosures from the EC, it's presumed that he possessed accurate figures on the BJP's redemptions. BJP's own submissions to the EC reveal a total redemption of Rs 6,987 crore worth of electoral bonds until July 7, 2023, a figure seemingly at odds with Shah's assertions.