Lucknow: Put together, states that make up what is referred to as the ‘Hindi heartland’ account for 200 of 543 Lok Sabha seats. Though this region has been key to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) tally in the previous two general elections, an analysis by ThePrint shows parties from the ‘Hindi heartland’ fared poorly compared to their counterparts in southern and eastern India in terms of political contributions received via the now-scrapped electoral bonds scheme.
For instance, while the BJP received a whopping Rs 6986.5 crore via electoral bonds between March 2018 and July 2023, no party from the ‘Hindi heartland’ made it to the list of top recipients and only two, namely the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U), were barely able to stand out.
For this analysis, ThePrint looked at eight states that make up the ‘Hindi heartland’: Uttar Pradesh (80 seats), Bihar (40 seats), Madhya Pradesh (29 seats), Rajasthan (25 seats), Jharkhand (14 seats) Chhattisgarh (11 seats), Haryana (10 seats) and Uttarakhand (5 seats). Of these eight, the BJP is currently in power in six states and is part of the Janata Dal (United)-led ruling coalition in Bihar.
ThePrint looked at disclosures made by political parties based out of the ‘Hindi heartland’ to the poll panel and publicly available estimates of their assets and liabilities.
From Uttar Pradesh, for instance, three of the five major political parties submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI) that they received no political contributions via the electoral bonds scheme introduced in 2017 by the Centre. These include the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) (ASP) and the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP).
The Samajwadi Party (SP) admitted to receiving electoral bonds worth Rs 14.05 crore. And though the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) did not find mention among parties that made disclosures to the EC, party leaders ThePrint spoke to said it had not received any contributions through electoral bonds.
Meanwhile, from neighbouring Bihar, the RJD disclosed receiving an electoral bond of denomination Rs 1 crore in April 2019 in the middle of the general election, and bonds worth another Rs 55 crore between July and October 2023, a little over two months before Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar walked out of the Mahagathbandhan with the RJD to return to the BJP-led NDA.
The JD(U), on the other hand, disclosed that it received electoral bonds worth Rs 24.40 crore. This included electoral bonds worth Rs 13 crore received amid the general election in April 2019 and those worth Rs 1.40 crore in October 2020, days before the first phase of the assembly elections, besides those worth Rs 10 crore received in January 2022.
According to professor Shashikant Pandey, head of the department of political science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, India may have today surpassed the US in terms of electoral spending.
“The figures are in public domain and it is clear that the electoral bonds scheme which has been quashed by the Supreme Court benefitted the ruling party much more than others, although a few state parties like the TMC and parties in southern states too benefitted from them. But it has exposed the nexus between corporates and political parties.”
Pandey added that in Uttar Pradesh, in particular, parties are finding it difficult to survive in a scenario where politics has been “corporatised”.
“Today, India has surpassed the US in terms of electoral spending which is an alarming phenomenon. Parties are pointing out that it has become difficult for them to compete with the BJP which has benefitted the most from the electoral bonds scheme. In West Bengal polls too, a lot of money was spent and charter planes were hired. Several candidates are backing out of elections because they can’t afford to foot the bill for the contest. The Supreme Court rightly struck down the scheme but an alternative like state funding of elections should be suggested,” he said.
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Uttar Pradesh: SP, BSP & RLD
From Uttar Pradesh, which sends more MPs to the Lower House of Parliament than any other state/UT, only the Samajwadi Party disclosed receiving political contributions through electoral bonds.
The principal opposition party in the state, the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP said it encashed electoral bonds worth Rs 14.05 crore between 12 April 2019 and 15 February 2024 — a far cry from the thousands of crores regional parties from other states, particularly in southern and eastern India, received as contributions in the form of electoral bonds.
Making the disclosure on behalf of the party, SP secretary general Ram Gopal Yadav submitted to the EC that the party received electoral bonds worth Rs 84 lakh in April 2019 and another Rs 3 crore on 10 January 2022, ahead of the UP assembly polls.
Among the donors were Gurugram-based “S.K. Traders”, Jaipur-based “B.S. Traders”, Delhi-based “A.S. Traders”, Faridabad-based “B.G. Traders” and “San Beverages Pvt Ltd”.
It also submitted that in May 2019, ahead of the general election, it received electoral bonds worth Rs 10 crores via “unnamed” sources “by post”.
According to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) dated 2 December 2023, Samajwadi Party declared the highest assets among regional parties in FY 2021-22 totalling Rs 568 crore. This included Rs 388.175 crore under the head of fixed deposits. For the same financial year, it declared liabilities amounting to 0.3 crore. The ADR had in another report dated 16 May 2023 pointed out that 5.81 percent of the Samajwadi Party’s income was from unknown sources in FY 2021-22.
Rajendra Chaudhary, national spokesperson of the SP, told ThePrint that it is becoming increasingly difficult for regional parties to secure funds.
“EC guidelines say a candidate can spend a maximum of Rs 75 lakh in Lok Sabha elections. In today’s scenario, it is difficult for regional parties to arrange that amount. Earlier, donations would come from the public directly. Now, the BJP is misusing government machinery to get funds,” he said, while also demanding that the ECI help regional parties secure funds necessary for their sustenance from the exchequer.
The demand is similar to a suggestion made by former chief election commissioner S.Y. Quraishi who in a column for The Indian Express proposed that the exchequer fund political parties based on their electoral performance. Quraishi also suggested that the bank accounts of political parties be subjected to regular audits by independent panels set up either by the ECI or the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
On the other hand, the Mayawati-led BSP which garnered nearly 20 percent of valid votes polled in UP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and is recognized as a national party, disclosed to the EC that it did not receive any contributions via electoral bonds.
An ADR report dated 4 September 2023, which assessed the assets and liabilities of eight national parties, shows that BSP declared total assets worth Rs 690 crore in FY 2021-22. For that same assessment year, the party declared that it had no outstanding liabilities.
Another report by ADR dated 7 March 2024 said the BSP received Rs 29.27 crore from known sources of income which include bank interest, membership fees, gain on sale of immovable property and interest on income tax refund in assessment year 2021-22.
BSP MLC Bhim Rao Ambedkar told ThePrint, “Our party is run by the blood and sweat of the poor. When corporations are running media houses, why will they fund regional parties?
“Our party gets donations through three modes: Rs 200 fee for membership at the time of joining, donation on the occasion of our supremo’s birthday every year which is celebrated as the aarthik sahyog diwas (financial support day) since the time of Kanshi Ram ji and donations from public at the time of elections. We don’t get funding from corporations and the rich.”
Asked about allegations by the party’s political adversaries who accuse the BSP of “selling party tickets” to the highest bidder, Ambedkar said: “It is true that candidates who want to fight elections from the BSP give donation to the party at the time of Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha polls but this is for the party. Allegations of selling tickets are absolutely baseless.”
Although the Jayant Chaudhary-led RLD, also a constituent of the NDA, did not find mention in the list of parties that made disclosures to the poll panel, its national vice president Shahid Siddiqui confirmed to ThePrint that it too had not received any electoral bonds. He added that regional parties face issues related to funds when not in power.
“The regional parties out of power are not in a position to give any favours to anyone which is why they are unable to get funds. The party leading the central government is getting the maximum funds from donors who want favours from the government. It is like bribery. Proper scrutiny of the funds is required because it is people’s money which is being wasted in the elections. The suggestion that political parties should get funds from the state exchequer as suggested by S.Y. Quraishi is welcome,” he said.
The ADR report dated 2 December 2023 stated that RLD declared assets worth Rs 16.29 crore — making it the 11th richest regional party in terms of assets — and liabilities worth Rs 0.1 crore in FY 2021-22.
Asked about regional parties from southern and eastern India receiving relatively more electoral bonds than those from the ‘Hindi Heartland’, Siddiqui added, “Ruling parties whether at the Centre or in states are in a position to extend favours. If corporations are giving most funds to the BJP, they are also giving one-fourth or more to the parties in their own states.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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