Electoral bonds: For regional parties, money follows power, or the whiff of it

A look at the data on electoral bonds redeemed from April 2019 to January 2024, published by the Election Commission (EC) on Thursday, shows that for regional parties, what played a big role in the money they got was whether they were in government or not, and who they aligned with.

The Trinamool Congress, albeit a regional party, is excluded from this analysis as its electoral bond redemption, a total of Rs 1,610 crore since April 2019, far exceeds the other regional parties. In fact, the TMC figures only behind the BJP (by a big margin) and is ahead of the Congress.

Telangana: The poll peak

The Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), which ruled Telangana for 10 years before losing power in December last year, raised Rs 1,214 crore from electoral bonds between April 2019 and January 2024. However, almost 40% or Rs 495 crore of that was redeemed in the April, July, October and November tranches last year, ahead of the Assembly polls held in November. The BRS is the highest recipient of donations through electoral bonds among the regional parties since 2019, barring the TMC. During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls though, the party got only Rs 37 crore.

Odisha: A BJD story

While there have been no major elections in Odisha in the past four years, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has been in power in the state for more than two decades, received Rs 775 crore in the period. The highest single redemption amount of Rs 155 crore came in July 2023.

Andhra Pradesh: TDP on the up, YSRCP down

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which was in power in Andhra Pradesh and has some influence in Telangana, raised over Rs 219 crore through electoral bonds from April 2019 to January 2024. Of its total, the party received Rs 100 crore between April 2019 and