Bizarre replies from political parties as pollster seeks information on electoral bonds

The Electoral Commission has sought information from political parties on electoral bond funding

New Delhi:

The Electoral Commission’s request for political parties to provide details of electoral bonds they have received has prompted numerous and often unsolicited responses – with one party seeking to cancel its registration and another noting that its leaders pay party funds every three months Donate Rs 500.

In replies to the Electoral Commission, some parties explained that they had not received any donations through electoral bonds, while others said they were unable to provide the requested information.

The Maharashtra Vadigum Thakur Party called it a new party and claimed that it did not get any votes in the elections and therefore did not provide any details. Similarly, the Sarvjan Lok Shakti Party submitted a handwritten note saying it had not received any donation.

The BKM expressed disappointment, lamenting their lack of recognition and claiming it had no support from industrialists or capitalists, resulting in the party not receiving any funds through electoral bonds.

Tamil Nadu-based Tamilar Desiya Munnani was unable to respond to the Election Commission notice within the stipulated time, citing health issues among its leadership. It also mentioned that it had not received any donations through electoral bonds until September 30, 2023.

The Makkal Nala Kazhagam noted that its chairman personally deposits money into the party’s account every three months.

“Party president S Sathiyamoorthy deposits his own money of Rs 500 into the party account in the relevant bank once every three months,” the statement said.

The Kannada Nadu Party later passed a dissolution resolution and submitted a letter to the Election Commission seeking derecognition of the party.

“…the resolutions passed at the respective meetings have been forwarded to your good offices and we are awaiting your confirmation of the derecognition of the political parties,” it said in its reply.

Political parties such as Jan Shakti Dal, Neethi Nijayathi Party and Gunj Satya Ni Janta Party claimed not to have received any donations.

Many political parties, including the Aasra Lokmanch Party, the Bharatiya Sarthak Party and the National Bhrashtachar Mukti Party, said they had not received any donations and mentioned that they were not among the categories eligible for electoral bonds.

The Bahujan Rajyam Party clarified that it had not received any electoral bonds and highlighted the eligibility criteria that restricted the issuance of bonds to parties that had secured at least 1% of votes in the previous elections.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)