'41 companies facing probe gave Rs 2,471 crore to BJP'

New Delhi: Forty-one companies facing probe by the CBI, ED and the I-T Department gave Rs 2,471 crore to the BJP through electoral bonds, and Rs 1,698 crore of it was donated after raids by these agencies, civil society activists who challenged the poll funding scheme in the Supreme Court claimed on Friday.

Addressing the media after the Election Commission made public a fresh data set of electoral bonds, advocate Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for the petitioners, said at least 30 shell companies purchased electoral bonds worth over Rs 143 crore.

He said 33 groups which have got 172 contracts and project approvals from the government also made donations through bonds.

"They have got a total of Rs 3.7 lakh crore in projects and contracts," he alleged. (PTI)