If you’ve spent a few minutes on social media this week, you’ll probably know that Prime Minister Narendra Modi came out strongly in support of the controversial electoral bonds scheme. In an interview with ANI, he said it was a “success story”, an “honest and pure” attempt to maintain “transparency” in the funding of political parties.

He also made three specific claims:

• Out of 3,000 companies that bought bonds, only 26 “were being investigated” by central agencies. Of these, “there were 16 where there were raids. At that time, the bonds were bought”.

• Next, he said “out of 16 companies” being probed by agencies that bought bonds, 37 percent of their bonds went to the BJP; the rest went to opposition parties.

• He also alleged that when the BJP was in the opposition, businessmen who would donate to the party through cheques would worry that the government in power “will see that we have given so much money to the opposition” and “trouble” them. He indicated the bonds scheme would prevent this.

Was the prime minister correct? Or was he being disingenuous? We decided a fact-check was in order. Please note that the electoral bonds data is from April 2019 to January 2024, since the Election Commission has not published data prior to that.

26 companies vs 36 companies

The Election Commission did not release data on electoral bonds purchased by 3,000 companies. Instead, it released data on 1,298 purchasers comprising companies and a few hundred individuals.

Next, Newslaundry and The News Minute in February had published a series of reports on political funding. Out of a short list of 300 companies, we found that 41 had faced central agency action and donated about Rs 397.3 crore to the BJP from 2014 to 2023. The majority of these donations took place between 2018 and 2023. 

Twenty-five of these companies donated over Rs 262 crore to the BJP in that five-year period. Additionally, 14 of these 25 companies – which donated a total of Rs 137.9 crore to the BJP – had never donated to the party prior to 2014.

Then the electoral bonds data was released in phases from March. We teamed up with The News Minute, Scroll and independent journalists to investigate.

We also matched our list of 41 companies with the list of purchasers. We found that 18 out of 41 companies bought electoral bonds worth Rs 1,926.5 crore. We also found that 17 other companies purchased electoral bonds after central agency action. 

In total, our analysis of the EC data spanned 400-odd companies. We found 35 companies – 18 that we’d investigated before, 17 new ones – that bought bonds to coincide with central agency action. 

Two of the companies – Grasim Industries and Utkal Alumina – had been counted as one entity since they are both part of the Aditya Birla Group. We decided to count them individually instead of as one, taking our final count to 36 companies that purchased bonds and also faced action.

This doesn’t quite tally with the prime minister’s claim of 26, does it?

41% to BJP and co.

So, we had our list of 36 companies that bought bonds and faced agency action. 

We then checked which parties encashed their bonds.

The 36 companies purchased bonds worth Rs 4,392 crore in total, encashed by 16 political parties. The BJP got Rs 1,666 crore – 37.93 percent of the total.

The remaining was split between 15 other parties, some that ally with the BJP and some that do not. 

The Trinamool Congress got Rs 642 crore (14.62 percent), DMK Rs 593 crore (13.50 percent), Bharat Rashtra Samithi Rs 486 crore (11.07 percent), Congress Rs 331 crore (7.54 percent), Biju Janata Dal Rs 264 crore (6.01 percent), YSR Congress Rs 216 crore (4.92 percent), and Telugu Desam Party Rs 93 crore (2.12 percent), 

Getting less than one percent were the Rashtriya Janata Dal (Rs 36 crore), Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (Rs 18 crore), Janata Dal Secular (Rs 14 crore), Janata Dal United (Rs 11 crore), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (Rs 8 crore),  Aam Aadmi Party (Rs 5 crore) and Jana Sena Party (Rs 4 crore)

Of these parties, the JDU, JDS, SKM, TDP and Jana Sena are allies of the BJP. Together with the BJP’s share, they account for over 41 percent percent of bonds purchased by the 36 companies that faced agency action. 

Again, this isn’t what the prime minister said during his interview.

Companies – and the parties they donated to

We know the split of how much money the BJP and its allies got from the 36 companies. Now, it’s worth looking at some of these companies individually. For the sake of brevity, we will not go into details of each company’s ownership and the agency action they faced. We’ve reported on both these aspects extensively here and here.

Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 966 crore. The BJP got Rs 584 crore and the BRS Rs 195 crore. Other recipients were the JDU (Rs 10 crore), DMK (Rs 85 crore), Jana Sena Party (Rs 4 crore), JDS (Rs 9 crore), Congress (Rs 18 crore), TDP (Rs 28 crore) and YSR Congress (Rs 37 crore).

It’s worth noting that MEIL has also made substantial donations to parties through the Prudent Electoral Trust. 

In 2020-21, it donated Rs 22 crore through Prudent Electoral Trust. That year, a total of Rs 245.7 crore was donated to political parties through the trust, of which the BJP got over 85 percent (Rs 209 crore). 

Similarly, in 2022-23, MEIL donated Rs 87 crore through Prudent Electoral Trust, which recorded total donations of Rs 363.15 crore that year. The BJP got nearly 75 percent at Rs 271.25 crore.

USV Private Ltd purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 10 crore, all of which were encashed by the BJP. The company had been raided by the I-T department in 2017; it donated Rs 9 crore to the BJP later that year. 

Future Gaming & Hotel Services PR bought electoral bonds worth Rs 1,368 crore of which Rs 542 crore was encashed by the TMC, Rs 509 crore by DMK, Rs 149 crore by YSR Congress, Rs 100 crore by BJP, Rs 50 crore by Congress, Rs 11 crore by SKM, and Rs 5 crore to Sikkim Democratic Front. 

Future Gaming donated Rs 100 crore to Prudent Electoral Trust in 2020-21. The trust recorded total donations of Rs 245.72 crore that year of which Rs 209 crore went to the BJP. Future Gaming presumably accounted for at least Rs 63.28 crore of that. It should be noted that in Future Gaming’s case, central agency action against it began nearly 20 years ago.

IRB Infrastructures Developers, bought bonds worth Rs 84 crore through three subsidiaries. Rs 25 crore went to the BRS through IRB MP Expressway. Rs 6 crore went to the Congress through Ideal Road Builders. And through bonds purchased by Modern Road Makers, Rs 5 crore went to the BRS, Rs 40 crore to BJP, Rs 2 crore to DMK, and Rs 6 crore to Congress.

Additionally, through its subsidiaries, it donated a total of Rs 84 crore to the BJP from 2014 to 2023.

Som Distilleries purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 3 crore, all of which were encashed by the BJP. 

Bonds aside, it donated Rs 4.25 crore to the BJP in 2018-19, soon after it was raided, and Rs 2 crore in 2020-21 after the founders’ arrest and release on charges of tax evasion. Som Distilleries kept this up, donating Rs 2 crore to the BJP in 2021-22 and Rs 1 crore in 2022-23.

Micro Labs purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 22 crore of which Rs 6 crore was encashed by the BJP, Rs 9 crore by Congress, and Rs 7 crore by SKM.

It donated Rs 21 lakh to the BJP in 2015-16, Rs 9 crore in 2017-18, Rs 3 crore in 2018-19, and Rs 50 lakh in 2019-20. It then paused its BJP donations until it was raided by the I-T department in 2022; it donated Rs 2 crore to the BJP that year.

Vedanta Ltd bought electoral bonds worth Rs  398 crore of which the BJP encashed Rs 228 crore, BJD Rs 40 crore, JMM Rs 5 crore, and Congress Rs 125 crore.

Yashoda Superspeciality bought bonds worth Rs 162 crore of which Rs 94 crore went to the BRS, Rs 64 crore to Congress, Rs 1 crore to BJP, and Rs 1 crore each to AAP and YSR Congress. Additionally, it donated Rs 25 lakh to the BJP in 2019-20, Rs 10 crore in 2021-22, and Rs 5 lakh in 2022-23. Yashoda had been raided by the I-T department in December 2020. 

Utkal Alumina bought bonds worth Rs 215 crore of which Rs 228 crore went to the BJP, Rs 125 crore to Congress, Rs 40 crore to BJD, and Rs 5 crore to JMM.

Grasim Industries bought bonds worth Rs 33 crore of which Rs 23 crore went to the BJP and Rs 10 crore to BJD.

DLF bought electoral bonds worth Rs 170 crore, all of which were encashed by the BJP. 

Chennai Greenwoods bought Rs 105 crore worth of bonds of which the BRS got Rs 50 crore, TMC Rs 40 crore, and Congress Rs 15 crore.

IFB Agro bought bonds worth Rs 92 crore. Rs 42 crore was encashed by the TMC, Rs 35 crore by RJD, Rs 5 crore by Congress, Rs 4 crore by AAP, and Rs 6 crore by BJD.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories bought bonds worth Rs 84 crore. The BRS encashed Rs 32 crore, BJP Rs 25 crore, Congress Rs 14 crore, and TDP Rs 13 crore.

Rashmi Group  purchased bonds worth Rs 90 crore of which Rs 72 crore went to the BJD and Rs 18 crore to TMC.

Ramco Cements bought bonds worth Rs 54 crore. The BJP encashed Rs 25 crore, TDP Rs  5 crore, and YSR Congress Rs 24 crore.

United Phosphorus purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 50 crore; the entire amount was encashed by the BJP.

Aurobindo Pharma Ltd bought bonds amounting to Rs 50 crore. The BJP encashed Rs 33 crore, BRS Rs 15 crore, and TDP Rs 2 crore.

Navayuga Engineering Company bought bonds of Rs 55 crore and the entire amount was encashed by the BJP.

Kalpataru Projects International Ltd purchased bonds of Rs 25 crore and donated the entire amount to the BJP.

HES Infra purchased electoral bonds of Rs 22 crore. Rs 20 crore went to the BRS and Rs 2 crore to Congress.

Hero Motocorp Ltd bought bonds of Rs 20 crore and the entire amount was encashed by the BJP.

Sun Pharma purchased bonds worth Rs 31 crore and the entire amount was encashed by the BJP.

Alkem Laboratories purchased bonds of Rs 15 crore and the entire amount was encashed by the BJP.

Micro Labs Ltd purchased bonds worth Rs 22 crore of which Rs 6 crore went to the BJP, Rs 7 crore to SKM, and Rs 9 crore to Congress.

Capacite Infraprojects Ltd bought bonds of Rs 7 crore and the entire amount was encashed by the BJP.

Shree Cements purchased bonds worth Rs 7 crore. JDU received Rs 1 crore, Congress Rs 5 crore, and RJD Rs 1 crore.

SPML Om Metal JV purchased bonds of Rs 5 crore. The entire amount was encashed by the Congress.

ILABS Hyd Technology Centre Private Ltd bought bonds of Rs 5 crore which went to the JDS.

Thriveni Earthmovers Private Ltd and Thriveni Sainik Mining Private Ltd  purchased bonds of 11 crore out of which Rs 5 crore went to Biju Janata Dal, Rs 3 crore to DMK  and Rs 3 crore to JMM.

Trident Ltd purchased bonds of Rs 7 crore. The entire amount was encashed by the Congress.

Trident Chemphar Ltd purchased bonds of Rs 5 crore. The entire amount was encashed by the TDP.

KJS Group purchased bonds of Rs 14 crore. The entire amount was encashed by the BJP.

Shri Jagannath Steels and Power Ltd bought bonds worth Rs 11 crore. The entire amount was encashed by the BJD.

Hetero Group purchased bonds of Rs 60 crore. The BJP got Rs 10 crore, BRS Rs 50 crore. 

Rungta Sons Private Ltd purchased bonds worth Rs 100 crore. It donated Rs 50 crore to BJP and Rs 50 crore to Biju Janata Dal.

Shirdi Sai Electricals  bought bonds worth Rs 40 crore and donated the entire amount to the TDP. 

Action against donors?

During his ANI interview, Modi said something else that we found interesting. 

When the BJP was in the opposition, the party would accept donations through cheques. One day, businessmen purportedly said this practice couldn’t continue. 

“If we write, then the government will see that we have given so much to the opposition. So they will trouble us,” he lamented. And that is presumably why the BJP instituted the electoral bonds scheme, to protect such businessmen. 

Such was the BJP’s suffering when it was in the opposition. Now that the BJP is in power, we decided to look at companies that contributed to opposition parties – and then faced central agency action. We cannot confirm the cause or effect of these donations.

For instance, Kolkata-based Rungta Sons purchased bonds worth Rs 50 crore in April 2021 that were encashed by the governing BJD in Odisha. The company was raided by the I-T department in December 2023. A month later, it donated Rs 50 crore to the BJP through electoral bonds.

Then there’s the Punjab-based Trident Group, led by Padma Shri awardee Rajinder Gupta. The group has invested in Madhya Pradesh since 2010 and is considered close to former BJP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

In 2021-22, it directly donated Rs 4.1 crore to the BJP. Then in October 2023, it purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 7 crore that were encashed by the Congress. A week later, the group’s premises were raided by the I-T department in Dhaula, Barnala and Budhni.

Another example is Interglobe Air Transport which partly owns IndiGo airlines. In 2019, it had directly donated Rs 11 crore to the BJP followed by Rs 5 crore to the Congress in October 2023. The company received an I-T notice the following month for tax recovery of Rs 740 crore and Rs 927 crore for 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively.

Zydus Healthcare Ltd, a leading pharmaceutical company, directly donated Rs 18 crore to the BJP in October 2022, and Rs 3 crore to the Congress in November that year. It donated Rs 8 crore to the SKM in July 2023. In December 2023, it received a tax demand notice of Rs 284.48 crore from the I-T department.

Similarly, the Hyderabad-headquartered Divi Laboratories made three direct donations in 2023 – Rs 20 crore to the BRS in July, Rs 30 crore to BJP in October, and Rs 5 crore to Congress in October. In November, it received a tax demand notice of Rs 164 crore excluding penalty charges.

Grasim Industries, owned by the Birla Group, had quite the rollercoaster ride. In March 2019, it received a tax demand of Rs 5,872 crore over its merger with a group company called AB Nuvo and the demerger of AB Nuvo’s financial service to form a separate company. A month later, Grasim bought Rs 23 crore worth of electoral bonds for the BJP. In March 2020, the I-T department reduced its tax demand to Rs 3,786 crore while the Competition Commission of India imposed a penalty of Rs 301.61 crore on its turnover.

In October 2020, Grasim donated Rs 10 crore to the BJD through electoral bonds. A year later, it received a tax demand of Rs 8,334 crore on the same matter that had led to the tax demand in 2019. The capital gains tax demand was more or less on similar grounds as 2019. The tax demand was made in the wake of sale of shares and merger of Grasim with Aditya Birla Nuvo and Aditya Birla Financial Services.

In times of misinformation, you need news you can trust. We’ve got you covered. Subscribe to Newslaundry and power our work.