GANGTOK: The election commission of India (ECI), on Thursday (March 14), published data related to electoral bonds and the funds received by political parties by encashing them.
In Sikkim, the Himalayan state in the Northeast, two of the dominant political entities – the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) and Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) – also redeemed electoral bonds issued by donors in their names.
How much did SKM and SDF in Sikkim receive through electoral bonds?
According to the data published by the election commission of India (ECI) on its website, the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) encashed Rs 37 crore through electoral bonds in the last five years.
During the same period, the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), led by former chief minister Pawan Chamling, encashed only Rs 6 crore.
Notably, the BJP leads in electoral bond encashment, totalling Rs 6060.5 crore between April 12, 2019 and January 24, 2024 representing over 47.5% of the total bonds encashed.
Also read: Electoral bonds data: BJP tops list with Rs 6060 crore
Trinamool Congress (TMC) received Rs 1609.50 crore (12.6%) and the Congress secured Rs 1421.9 crore (11.1%) during the same period.
Other significant beneficiaries include the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), each encashing over Rs 500 crore worth of electoral bonds within the same timeframe.
The top 20 donors, such as Future Gaming, Megha Engineering, and Qwiksupplychain Pvt Ltd, contributed a combined total of Rs 5420.30 crore or 44.59% of the electoral bonds purchased between April 2019 and January 2024, as reported by the election commission of India (ECI).
A total of 22,217 bonds were purchased between April 1, 2019 and February 15, 2024 with 22,030 bonds subsequently encashed by political parties during the same period.