Election Funding: Bonds are over, but the game of trust begins, BJP got more than Rs 3000 crores, where is the rest?

News India Live, Digital Desk: Do you remember the day when the Supreme Court banned Electoral Bonds? At that time I felt that now the game of money in politics will become a little transparent. The common man felt that now the ‘hide and seek’ of black and white money would stop. But as they say, ‘where there is a will, there is a way’, and our leaders and corporate companies together found a new way (or rather, an old but strong way) of giving funds. The latest news is that despite the closure of bonds, there has been no significant difference in the pockets of political parties. On the contrary, the rain of money is still continuing! What is the whole matter? Reports have emerged that after the ban on electoral bonds, the Electoral Trusts have become active again. The figures that have come out for the financial year 2024-25 are enough to surprise anyone. The parties have received a total donation of Rs 3,811 crore through different electoral trusts. Now the real fun is not in how much money came in, but in who ate the ‘biggest piece of the cake’. BJP’s bumper earnings! The ruling party BJP continues to shine. Out of the total Rs 3,811 crore, about Rs 3,112 crore has come to BJP’s account alone. Do the math—that’s about 82% of the total donation! Looking at this, it seems that the corporate world has one-sided trust only on ‘Kamal’. Whether the money comes from bonds or trust, whatever the route, the destination is mostly BJP’s bank account. What is the condition of Congress? The largest opposition party, Congress, seems to be far behind BJP in this race, meaning very far behind. He had to be satisfied with only Rs 299 crore. If we compare, BJP has received 10 times more donations than Congress. This gap is so big that the lack of resources in the election contests is clearly visible. The remaining money was settled by other regional parties like AAP and BRS. Where is the money coming from? If there are no bonds, then this money is coming through ‘trust’. ‘Prudent Electoral Trust’ has emerged as the biggest player in this. It is reported that most of the big donations have been routed through this trust. This system is such that companies give money to the trust and the trust forwards it to the parties. After the strictness of the Supreme Court, this method has now again become ‘number 1’. The simple thing is that when the Supreme Court closed the door, money found the window. Electoral bonds went away, but the pace of corporate donations did not stop. While on one hand one party is brimming with money, other parties are struggling for funds. It will be interesting to see what color this ‘economic inequality’ will show in the coming elections in a democracy.