Gujarat Dalit Family ‘Tricked’ To Donate Electoral Bonds Worth Rs 10 Crore To BJP: Report

Electoral bond scheme was one of the largest scams the country has witnessed, according to Opposition parties and political observers. Recently, a Gujarat Dalit farmer lodged a complaint that their family was ‘tricked’ into donating electoral bonds worth Rs 10 crore to the BJP. A detailed report in the Quint delves into the allegation.

The Dalit family from Gujarat’s Anjar claimed electoral bonds worth Rs 11 crore and 14 thousand were bought in the names of six of their members in October last year. As per the family’s allegations, they were tricked into the purchase by an official of Welspun Enterprises Ltd., a company linked to the Adani Group.  According to the SBI data released by the Election Commission, bonds comprising Rs 10 crore were redeemed by the BJP on October 16, 2023, and bonds worth Rs 1 crore and 14 thousand were redeemed by the Shiv Sena on October 18, 2023.

Haresh Savakara, son of Savakara Manvar, one of the six members of the family, lodged a complaint on the matter at the Anjar Police Station in March.

“Welspun had acquired approximately 43,000 square meter of our agricultural land in Anjar for a project. This money was part of the compensation we were given as per law. But at the time of depositing this money, Mahendrasinh Sodha, a Senior General Manager at the company, told us that such a huge amount can result in trouble with the income tax department…He then introduced us to the electoral bond scheme, which he said would ensure that we get 1.5 times the amount in a few years. We are illiterate people. We had no clue what this scheme was but at that time it sounded very convincing,” The Quint reports, as Haresh is saying.

The complaint mentioned that in August last year, the district administration sanctioned the sale of their agricultural land to Welspun for Rs 16,61,21,877. In the amount, Rs 2,80,15,000 were given in advance, and the remaining Rs 13,81,09,877 were transferred to seven joint holders of the land.

Continuing further, the complainants state that “between 1 October 2023 and 8 October 2023, Welspun employee Mahendrasinh Sodha who was involved in the acquisition process, held four meetings with Savakara and his son Haresh at Welspun’s Guest House in the company’s compound and convinced them to invest money in the electoral bond scheme citing income tax trouble and handsome returns,” the Quint reports. BJP Anjar City President Hemant Rajinikanth Shah was also associated with these meetings, the complaint adds.

Govind Dafada, an Anjar-based lawyer representing the complainants, argued that a district-level Land Acquisition Committee headed by the Collector valued Manvar family land at Rs 17,500 per square meter. Thereby, the total compensation’s tentative amount was close to Rs 76 crore, but Welspun was not ready to pay such a huge amount. Following that, the process stayed stagnant for a year, the lawyer added.

The police are investigating the matter, and so far no FIR has been registered.