NCP encashed bonds worth ₹37.75 crore till May 9, 2019
The Election Commission of India on Sunday made public new documents revealing the names of companies and individuals that made contributions to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) till May 9, 2019. The party encashed ₹37.75 crore between January 18 and May 9, 2019.
Originally, this information was provided to the Supreme Court in sealed envelopes. Details of electoral bonds encashed by the NCP beyond May 9, 2019, were disclosed by the election authority last week.
The party had encashed ₹27.5 crore after May 9, 2019, for which the donor information is still not available.
Single-day encashment
Compiling the donations encashed by the NCP via the electoral bond route, from its initial receipt on January 18, 2019, to the most recent one on April 13, 2023, reveals that its largest singleday encashment of ₹10 crore was recorded on January 11, 2022.
This significant donation was made between November 28, 2019, and June 29, 2022, a time when the NCP returned to power in the State as a member of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition.
Parties are required to encash electoral bonds within 15 days of their issuance.
The NCP is among the few parties that have disclosed the identities of contributors who donated via the electoral bond route.
In the period, for which donor information was available, the party had secured ₹7.5 crore through the electoral bonds route from Bajaj Finserv and ₹5 crore from Infina infrastructure.
It had also received ₹5 crore from Atul Chordia and ₹4.5 crore from Avinash Bhosle in the period. Their addresses were not included in the details.
Individual donor
Cyrus Poonawalla, the founder of Serum Institute of India, had donated ₹3.75 crore to the party in this period. Bharti Airtel Limited also donated ₹2 crore. The rest were from other firms and individuals.
After a split in the party in 2023, the Election Commission awarded the party’s original name and symbol to a faction led by Ajit Pawar.
The group that remained with party chief Sharad Pawar was given the name NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).