Jaanne Bhi Do Yaron | Political Party Funding and Corruption in India

In 2024–25, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received more than Rs 6,000 crore in political donations – nearly five times the amount received by the Congress and all opposition parties combined. Disclosures available on the Election Commission of India (ECI) website show that over 80% of all donations to major political parties went to a single party: the BJP.

In this edition of Jaanne Bhi Do Yaaro, former Chief Election Commissioner S. Y. Quraishi joins Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri to discuss political party funding in India and its impact on democratic competition and electoral fairness.

Following the scrapping of the anonymous Electoral Bonds Scheme in February 2024, electoral trusts have emerged as the primary channel for corporate political donations. We unpack who the largest donors are and examine investigative reporting that has tracked quid pro quo arrangements – including cases where companies receive government contracts or policy benefits soon after making political donations, or where firms under investigation contribute funds to the party controlling investigative agencies. Political funding, for this reason, is often described as the fountainhead of corruption.

Watch the full video.

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