38 corporates donated Rs 2,004 cr to BJP through electoral bonds: Priyanka Gandhi

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday hit out at the BJP over the electoral bond scheme, saying never in the history of the country did any government gave legal validity to corruption. In a post on X, Priyanka alleged that 38 corporate groups donated Rs 2,004 crore to BJP through electoral bonds.

"In return, they got contracts/projects worth Rs 3.8 lakh crore from BJP's central and state governments. ED, CBI, and IT raided 41 corporate groups. To avoid this, these groups donated Rs 2,592 crore to BJP. 16 shell companies donated Rs 419 crore to BJP. These also include companies which donated several times their total capital," Priyanka said.

She added for the first time in the country's history, a sitting government turned all the agencies at its disposal, as well as the entire system of the country into an 'extortion racket'.

"Will the Prime Minister give an account of this loot to the people of the country?" the Congress leader asked. Earlier, the Election Commission published the complete electoral bond data submitted by the State Bank of India on the orders of the Supreme Court. The fresh data included alpha-numeric numbers that can help match the purchasers of the bonds with the political parties that encashed them.

The two sets of data--552 pages of details of redemption by political parties and 386 pages of details of donors--cover electoral bonds purchased and redeemed from April 2019 until January 2024. The State Bank of India was the only bank authorised to sell and redeem the bonds, which were first issued in March 2018 and were being sold until being declared null and void by the top court last month.