Electoral Bonds | The Biggest Scam in History of India? | Explained by Dhruv Rathee
This is probably the biggest scam in the history of independent India. You may think that I am exaggerating things, but that is not the case. The thing is that this Electoral Bond Scam is not a standalone scam, but a collection of scams. The list of scams is so long that you will be tired of counting. Not only this, it happens to be the biggest extortion racket in the country . Let’s understand what exactly happened in this video. Before starting the video, I would like to make a small announcement. We’re celebrating Holi now, so on this occasion, both the courses on Dhruv Rathee Academy will be available at flat 50% off. For both the ChatGPT course and Time Management Course, use the coupon code HOLI50 You will get 50% off. But this offer is valid only till 31st March. The link to the website is in the description below. If you want to summarise this entire col lection of scams in one line, then you can do it like this. You give me kickbacks, I will give you business opportunities, and if you don’t give me kickbacks, I will trap you with ED’s mechanism. I have talked about this “tenders and kickbacks” model in many of my previous videos but now we have direct evidence of it. It was in 2017 when the Modi government introduced this Electoral Bonds Scheme and made it a means of collecting kickbacks for political parties. “Finance Minister Arun Jaitley t oday announced the contours of Electoral Bonds for funding of political parties. ” Every action under this scheme would be hidden from the masses. People who were following this news back then, had understood that this would lead to a major financial scandal. Seven years ago, I made a video on this, where I voiced my concerns. “22nd March, 2017 The day Corruption became legal in India. Companies won’t nee d to reveal which political parties they would be funding.” We should thank the Supreme Court for declaring this scheme to be unconstitutional after 7 years. And all these scams that took place in these 7 years, are now being revealed gradually. Recently, in the India Today conclave, Home Minister Amit Shah openly lied about the Electoral Bonds. He said that total bonds sold were worth ₹200 billion, out of which BJP got only ₹60 billion. So, who got the remaining ₹140 billion?Total bonds sold were about ₹200 billion. So, where did the Bonds worth ₹140 billion go?” There was a TV news anchor sitting with him, who chose to remain silent. Either he forgot or he didn’t have the courage to fact-check Amit Shah. As per ECI data, the total bonds issued were not worth ₹200 billion but of ₹127 billion. The ones encashed between April 2019 and January 2024. Out of this ₹120 billion, BJP received ₹60 billion. It is about 47.5%. During the same period, the party that ranked second on the list was the Trinamool Congress which got Bonds worth ₹16 billion. It is 12.6%. Congress was at the 3rd spot with ₹14 billion, approximately 11.1% but let me just read out the rest of the list. 4th was BRS with ₹12 billion. 5th was BJD with ₹7 billion, 6th was DMK with ₹6 billion, YSR with ₹3 billion, TDP ₹2 billion, Shiv Sena with ₹1.5 billion and the other parties RJD, AAP, JDS, SKM, NCP, all of them got about ₹300 to ₹700 million. After ss opportunities in exchange for kickbacks. Or having ED take action against them in case no kickbacks are provided. But in itself, giving or receiving political donations is not a scam. Anyone can donate to political parties. But if they are given any contract in return for their donation, if they are paid with the people’s tax money, and the companies which don’t give such donations, are harassed by the ED, then it becomes a scam, a fraud. Now think about it, if Vijay Mallya or Nirav Modi ey created a vast extortion racket, shattered the principles of democracy, and stole the nation’s public funds. Amit Shah’s bold-faced lie was repeated by the BJP politician R.P. Singh. “In total, there were ₹200 billion worth of Electoral Bonds. Out of this, ₹60 billion went to BJP and ₹140 billion went to the opposition.” “Lie, and keep lying.” And then ANI, Dainik Jagran, India Today, they published this lie without checking. Forget about catching lies, India Today’s headline talked about, Am said that if any political party did not encash the electoral bond they received, if they didn’t redeem the coupon, then within 15 days, the money paid to purchase the unclaimed bond would be transferred to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. When this electoral bond scheme was launched, there was a journalist who decided to investigate this in detail. And to test this, she bought two electoral bonds. This journalist was Poonam Agarwal. She went to the SBI’s Parliament Branch and on 5th April an from these two things, there is no difference between the bonds.” But when she sent one of the bonds for forensic testing, it was revealed that every bond has a secret Unique Alphanumeric Number.
This proved to be yet another falsehood propagated by the Modi government. “Lie, and keep lying,” seemed to be their motto. Retired Navy Officer Lokesh Batra filed a Right to Information (RTI) request, and in response, he obtained a file from the Finance Ministry.Some other records were reviewed by HuffPost India. In all these, the SBI explained that without recording the serial numbers d they could have easily found out which company donated which Electoral Bond. Do you understand its implications, friends? As we already know, agencies like ED and CBI, have become the government’s puppets. With this, three things were clear. First, the public was supposed to remain unaware of which political party receives how much political donations, which companies make political donations, and how much they pay. The citizens weren’t supposed to know any information. Second, the opposition didn’t know anything about it until recently. On 15th February, when the Supreme Court declared this scheme unconstitutional, it was because of a petition. A petition filed by the CPI(M) political party and NGOs Common Cause and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). Advocate Prashant Bhushan was arguing on their behalf against this scheme. So, these are some of the organisations and people whom we should thank who led to this scam being unearthed. The Supreme Court had a lot to say about nefits in return. Based on all of all this, the Court directed SBI to release the data. *Show me your account book.* *Account for the damage you caused to the nation.* In the beginning, SBI came up with excuses about how it will take 3 months to collate the data, it can be disclosed only after the elections. But the Court refused to show any leniency and the data was released within 2 days. Eventually, this data was published on the website of the Election Commission. The data published on ECI electively data. It directed SBI to publish the full data by 21st March. The other political parties in the country had the list of donors who donated to them. They knew about the source of donation they received. So, 10 political parties revealed their list to the people. They revealed their data publicly, without waiting for SBI to do so. These parties included Samajwadi Party, Aam Aadmi Party, National Congress Party, JD(U), JD(S), DMK, AIADMK, JKNC, a party from Goa, MGP and SDF from Sikkim ny problems. Anyway, merely taking donations does not mean that it is a scam. “You will say that we benefited from electoral bonds too. But we are not in the position where we can award contracts, or sell public sector companies, or extort others using ED and CBI.”Rich individuals will purchase bonds, with only contractors, traders, or industrialists having the financial means to do so. They will be the primary purchasers. Now, let’s transition from theory to practicality. Public funds consist of money collected from citizens via taxes or other means. Picture this scenario: the government transfers money from the citizens’ fund to a company’s fund. In exchange, the company channels money from its fund into the party’s coffers through electoral bonds. Would you classify this as a scam?” Obviously, it is a scam. In Haryana, there is a folktale of a Gyani thief who steals money from the rich and gives it to the poor. Like, Robin Hood. But scams run under the guise of electo e the public funds that were supposed to be used for the welfare of the people aren’t coming in. Now in case, a company is not paying its taxes, what should the government do? Should it raid the premises of the company? But instead of raiding, think about it, if the two make a deal. In exchange for giving political donations to their political party, the government wouldn’t take action about the tax evasions. The company will be given a free pass. The government will let them continue their i anything wrong, the companies were working honestly. But in this possibility, the government did not care whether the company followed the law of not, and they told the companies to pay up. Basically, what the government did is called extortion.
This is why Congress politician Rahul Gandhi referred to PM Modi as “Vasuli Bhai,” implying someone who runs an extortion racket. Another interpretation could be that the company in question was involved in money laundering and engaged in illegal activities. It underscores the importance of prudence in public spending, akin to how one would handle their personal finances. The government cannot simply award contracts arbitrarily; tender notices outline eligibility criteria, including the company’s experience, past performance, and technical capabilities.
Take, for instance, Avayuga Engineering Company Limited, which between 2019 and 2022 purchased electoral bonds worth ₹550 million. In another instance, an under-construction flyover in Ahmedabad collapsed in December 2021, the third such incident involving the company Ranjit Buildcon. Subsequent investigations revealed compromised construction quality. Moreover, an FIR was filed in June 2022 against the company for negligence leading to fatalities at a housing project site.
Similarly, a tragic incident occurred in October 2018 when four individuals lost their lives at another construction site operated by the same company. These incidents reflect a disregard for human life in pursuit of political and financial gains. Despite these alarming events, contracts worth billions were still awarded to such companies, raising serious questions about accountability and integrity in governance.
In June 2019, Telangana’s Chief Minister inaugurated the Kaleshwaram Multipurpose Irrigation Project, initially estimated at ₹810 billion but now costing over ₹14.7 trillion according to a report by the CAG. The report also highlighted instances of overpayment to Megha Engineering, totaling ₹51.80 billion. The National Green Tribunal flagged environmental concerns, labeling the project’s clearance as illegal.
Furthermore, the Zojila tunnel project, approved during the same period, raised eyebrows as Megha Engineering, under scrutiny by the Income Tax Department, was awarded the contract worth ₹144 billion. This company’s significant investments in electoral bonds coincided with the successive awarding of lucrative projects, prompting accusations of cronyism and corruption.
These cases serve as a stark reminder of the nexus between political power, corporate interests, and electoral funding. They underscore the need for transparency, accountability, and ethical governance practices to safeguard public trust and ensure equitable development.