Guwahati: Are there companies/ political parties from Northeast whose names figure in the electoral bonds submitted to the Supreme Court?
The Election Commission of India yesterday uploaded the details of electoral bonds on its site on Thursday before the March 15 deadline given by the Supreme Court.
A perusal of the data furnished on the website reveals that there are four companies from Assam- Guwahati Carbon, Star Cement Meghalaya Limited, North East Infra Network, Kamlang Saw and Veneer Mills Private Limited who have donated money in the electoral bonds.
As regards political parties there are two political parties- Sikkim Democratic Front and Sikkim Krantikari Morcha.
Guwahati Carbon Limited, a part of the Maniyar Group of Industries, supplies Calcined Petroleum Coke and Carbon Electrode Paste both in domestic as well as in International markets. Its factory is at Pub Boragaon. It bought electoral bonds worth Rs 2 crore in May 2019.
Star Cement Meghalaya Limited is part of the Star Cement group, one of the leading cement companies in India. The company has bought electoral bonds worth Rs 5 crore, the highest in the Northeast. The company bought all bonds in April 2019.
Kamlang Saw and Veneer Mills Private Limited is in the wood-products business and its registered address is in Palasbari, Kamrup. The company bought electoral bonds worth Rs 20 lakh.
North East Infra Network has an office in Guwahati. It is into steel dealerships and bought bonds worth Rs 1.65 crore, all in April 2021.
The Government of India has notified the Electoral Bond Scheme 2018 vide Gazette Notification No. 20 dated 2nd January 2018 (as amended vide Gazette Notification dated 7th November, 2022). As per provisions of the Scheme, Electoral Bonds may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. A person being an individual can buy Electoral Bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals. Only the Political Parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and which secured not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last General Election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of the State, shall be eligible to receive the Electoral Bonds. The Electoral Bonds shall be encashed by an eligible Political Party only through a Bank account with the Authorised Bank.
The State Bank of India (SBI) has been authorised to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorised Branches (as per list enclosed) w.e.f. 02.01.2024 to 11.01.2024.
Please note that while the data has been released on contributors and receivers, there is no information that connects donations to specific political parties: so, while Star Cements may have bought electoral bonds worth Rs 5 crore, there is no way to show which party was the beneficiary.
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