Analysis of Political Funding by Corporates through Electoral Bonds

Electoral bonds were introduced in 2018 as a mode of funding for political parties in India. The scheme allowed individuals and companies to purchase bonds from the State Bank of India (SBI) and donate them to political parties. But the unique feature of electoral bonds is that the donor's identity remains anonymous, providing a level of confidentiality for political contributions. The electoral bond scheme was criticized by various stakeholders, including opposition parties, civil society organizations, and the Election Commission of India. The Supreme Court of India struck down the electoral bond scheme on February 15, 2024, deeming it unconstitutional. The court ruled that the scheme violated the right to information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The Objective of the study is to find out % of total contribution in form of electoral bonds by companies raided and to find is there any significant difference in electoral bonds donated to political parties and Companies Raided. One-way ANOVA was used for the analysis. Results revealed that donations received by BJP are significantly different from donations received by other parties which can be seen in the comparison of different parties’ donation.