Activists allege 41 firms donated Rs 2.5K crore to BJP via electoral bonds after facing probes. Prashant Bhushan revealed shell companies’ involvement. Corruption claims involve major contracts, kickbacks, and specific company donations post raids.
Forty-one companies facing probe by the CBI, ED and the I-T Department gave Rs 2,471 crore to the BJP through electoral bonds, and Rs 1,698 crore of it was donated after raids by these agencies, civil society activists who challenged the poll funding scheme in the Supreme Court claimed on Friday. Addressing the media after the Election Commission made public a fresh data set of electoral bonds, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for the petitioners in the court, said at least 30 shell companies purchased electoral bonds worth over Rs 143 crore.
He said 33 groups which have got 172 major contracts and project approvals from the government also made donations through electoral bonds.
“They have got a total of Rs 3.7 lakh crore in projects and contracts, in exchange for Rs 1,751 crore electoral bond donations to the BJP,” he alleged.
Bhushan also claimed that 41 companies which faced raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax Department gave Rs 2,471 crore to the BJP, and Rs 1,698 crore of it was given after these raids and Rs 121 crore was given in the three months immediately after the raids.
This story was originally published in economictimes.com. Read the full story here.