ElectoralbondsRsofredeemedinDelhiofRTIinofinelectoralbondsRsininDelhiofbondsredeemedinRsElectoralbondsRsinofofRsBondsRsinofRsredeemedinElectoralbondsRsinofRsredeemedInbondsofRsRsredeemedRTIElectoralbondsRsinofRsRsbondsinofbondsRsredeemedElectoralbondsRsOfbondsRsredeemedbondsRsredeemedelectoralbondsRsinIninbondsRsredeemedinRTIofofofelectoralbondsofofofofinofElectoralofofbondsinbondsRsRsRsRsRsbondsinofelectoralbondsofofinelectoralbondsinofworth5,851.41 crore were bought by donors to fund political parties between March 2018 and May 2019,which 80.6 per cent wereNew, where the headquartersmajor parties are located, reply to anquery has revealed.Chandrashekhar Goud, anactivist based Madhya Pradesh 's Neemuch, Sunday shared the information furnished by the State BankIndia (SBI)response to his two queries.Political parties soldworth874.50 crore10 phasesNewto raise funds, but the valuethe national capital was more than five times at4,715.58 crore, he said.worth1,782.36 crore were purchasedMumbai, the financial capitalIndia, but only seven per centthem worth121.13 crore were encashed there, Goud said.worth1,389 crore were soldKolkata, but just 12 per centthem worth167.50 crore werethe West Bengal capital, he added.worth195 crore were soldthe Karnataka capital, Bengaluru, but just one per centthem worth1.5 crore werethere, Goud said.Hyderabad,806.12 crore value were sold, but worth512.30 crore werethere, Goud said quoting thereply.worth315.76 crore were soldOdisha capital, Bhubaneswar,which184.20 crore were encashed there, he added.Likewise,184.20 crorewere soldChennai,whichworth51.55 crore werethere.worth5,851.41 crore were sold between March 2018 and May 2019.themworth5,831.16 crore werewithin the stipulated deadline spread over 10 phases.The remainingworth20.25 crore could not bewithin the given deadline and hence their validity got over.Within the stipulated time-frame,worth279.70 crore were soldGandhinagar, Guwahati, Jaipur, Raipur, Panaji, Thiruvananthapuram and Visakhapatnam, Goud said.the 10 initial phases, no bond was purchasedAgartala, Aizawl, Badami Bagh, Bhopal, Dehradun, Gangtok, Imphal, Itanagar, Kohima, Patna, Ranchi, Shillong and Shimla. Butworth17.5 crore wereBadami Bagh, Patna, Ranchi and Gangtok.Goud said thereply neither provided the namesthe donors, nor the party-wise quantumfunds raised through the exercise.As per the rules, only those political parties are eligible to open current account for redemption, which are registered under Section 29Athe Representationthe People Act, 1951 (431951) and secured not less than one per centthe votes polledthe last general election to the Housethe People or the Legislative Assembly.As per the Union government'sBond Scheme 2018, only 29 branchesthe State BankIndia (SBI) were authorised to issue and encash these10 phases.Theare valued at1000,10,000,one lakh,10 lakh andone crore.The Supreme Court, which is hearing a petition against theseApril this year directed all political parties to furnish receiptsfunding received throughand detailsidentitydonorsa sealed cover to the Election Commission.The Centre contends thatare an attempt at bringing greater transparency, ensuring KYC compliance and keeping an audit trailcomparison to the earlier opaque systemcash donations.

Source: Economic Times July 21, 2019 12:56 UTC