- Kolkata-based industrialist Mahendra Kumar Jalan’s firms and Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited were the top donors to political parties ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
- Real estate conglomerate DLF group (DLF Commercial Developers Limited and DLF Luxury Homes Limited) gave Rs 25 crore to the BJP before the elections. They had been under a cloud for a deal with former Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra’s company.
- Piramal Group, in which Reliance’s Mukesh Ambani’s son-in-law Anand Piramal is a director, donated to both Congress and the BJP.
- Welspun Enterprises-firm linked to Adani donated to Congress before the 2019 elections.
- Hyderabad-based firms, including Dr Reddy’s, were top donors to Bharat Rashtra Samithi.
- Kolkata- and Maharashtra-based firms were top donors to the Aam Aadmi Party, Nationalist Congress Party, and Rashtriya Janata Dal.
New Delhi: Between April 12 and May 10, 2019, 13 political parties received a total of Rs 2,902.87 crore in electoral bonds, of which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alone received Rs 2,719.32 crore or 93% of the total donations.
Other parties who received bonds included the Congress that received just 3.2% or a total of Rs 95.29 crore.
Kolkata-based industrialist Mahendra Kumar Jalan’s firms and Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) were the top donors to political parties ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, data released by the Election Commission of India on March 21 has revealed.
The All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) received Rs 36.2 crore, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) received Rs 13.6 crore, the Samajwadi Party received Rs 10 crore, and the Shiv Sena received Rs 8.45 crore.
In addition, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) received Rs 6.76 crore. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) received Rs 2 crore each. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) got Rs 1.5 crore, and the Janata Dal (United) received Rs 1 crore. Jammu and Kashmir’s National Conference received Rs 50 lakh.
Jalan’s firms, MEIL, DLF group top BJP donors before 2019 polls
While the BJP received a total of Rs 2,719.32 crores before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, its top donor during this period was Mahendra Jalan’s firms.
Jalan’s Madanlal Limited gave Rs 175.5 crore, while Keventer Food Park Infra Limited gave Rs 144.5 crore and MKJ Enterprises Limited gave Rs 14.42 crore.
The second highest donor to the BJP is MEIL, owned by P.V. Krishna Reddy and P.P. Reddy. It alone donated Rs 125 crore to the BJP between April and May 2019.
The Wire earlier reported that the income tax department conducted “inspection” at its offices in October 2019. Subsequently, the company donated Rs 980 crore as electoral bonds and also received key government projects.
Other top donors to the BJP in this period include Vedanta Limited that donated Rs 52.65 crore to the party, Essel Mining and Industries Limited that donated Rs 50 crores, and Bajaj Group and PHL Fininvest Private Limited that donated Rs 40 crore each. Industrialist Laxmi Niwas Mittal gave Rs 35 crore while Sun Pharma Laboratories Limited gave Rs 31.5 crore.
Notably, real estate conglomerate DLF group (DLF Commercial Developers Limited and DLF Luxury Homes Limited) paid Rs 25 crore to the BJP in this period. They only paid the BJP.
Scroll.in reports that in January 2019, DLF offices were searched by the Central Bureau of Investigation for alleged irregularities in a land allocation case. The payment of Rs 25 crore took place between April and May 2019. The group had been under a cloud after a Haryana officer called off a land deal it had struck with former Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra’s Sky Light for 3.5 acres on September 18, 2012, triggering a public outcry. The BJP’s state government in Haryana also initiated action. In April last year, the high court was told that no law was violated.
Meanwhile, the Piramal Group, in which Reliance’s Mukesh Ambani’s son-in-law Anand Piramal is a director, gave Rs 20 crore to the BJP through Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Limited and Piramal Enterprises Limited.
Also read: Only Three Parties Had Opened an SBI Bank Account For Electoral Bonds Till March 31, 2018: RTI
Congress got the most bonds from Jalan, firms linked to Adani
Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress received a paltry 3.2% of the total bonds received, i.e., Rs 95.29 crore. Of this, the highest amount of Rs 20 crore came from Jalan’s Keventer Food Park Infra Limited and Rs 10 crore came from Madanlal Limited.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of favouring the business interests of billionaire Gautam Adani. Data shows that the party encashed Rs 8 crore from firms linked to Adani.
The party received a total of Rs 8 crore before the 2019 elections from Welspun Corp Limited and Welspun Enterprises Limited. A press release on Adani Enterprises’ website, dated April 2021, talks about gas exploration in the Mumbai offshore block by Adani Welspun Exploration Limited – a joint venture between the Adani group and Welspun Enterprises Ltd with 65:35 holdings.
Congress also received Rs 5 crore from Piramal Group’s PRL Developers Private Limited. Other top donors to the Congress include Bharati Airtel that donated Rs 8 crore, MEIL that gave Rs 5 crore, and Mumbai-based Modern Road Makers Private Limited that gave Rs 6 crore.
Cement manufacturing giant from the North-East, Star Cement Meghalaya Limited also gave Rs 4.5 crore to the Congress.
At the time of receiving these bonds, the party held governments in Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Manipur, and Chhattisgarh.
Also read: Parties Got Rs 7,726 Cr in Non-electoral Bond Funds Between 2013-23, Nearly 65% Went to the BJP
Jalan’s Keventer and ITC among top TMC donors
The TMC, which has received the second highest electoral bonds in the last five years, and saw its fortunes rising after the 2021 assembly elections, also benefited from Jalan’s firms before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Jalan’s Keventer Food Park Infra Limited was the top donor to the party before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and gave a total of Rs 20 crore of the total Rs 36.20 crore that the party received during this period.
Other top donors to the TMC include the largest carbon manufacturer in the country – Philips Carbon Black Limited. It gave Rs 5 crore to the party. Kolkata based-ITC Limited gave Rs 4.95 crore to the party during this period.
Jalan’s firms also donated to Samajwadi Party and Shiromani Akali Dal
While the Samajwadi Party only encashed bonds worth Rs 10 crore, all of them came from Jalan’s Keventer Food Park Infra Limited.
Shiv Sena, which encashed bonds worth Rs 8.45 crore, received the most from Piramal Group’s PRL Developers Private Limited at Rs 5 crore.
Shiromani Akali Dal, which received a total of Rs 6.76 crore, got Rs 50 lakh from Jalan’s Keventer Food Park Infra Limited.
The party also received Rs 5 crore from Chandigarh-based Fastway Transmissions Private Limited and Rs 1 crore from Bharti Airtel subsidiary Bharti Infratel Limited, which has also given Rs 1 crore to the Janata Dal (United) during this period.
Hyderabad-based firms, including Dr Reddy’s, top donors to BRS
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), then the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, received Rs 13.6 crore before the 2019 polls, of which, Rs 7 crore came from Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Limited.
Other top donors to the party include Hyderabad-based energy holding company Mytrah Energy (India) Private Limited (Rs 5 crore) that was acquired by JSW Energy last year. An additional Rs 1.6 crore was received from ITC Limited.
Kolkata- and Maharashtra-based firms were top donors to AAP, NCP, RJD
AAP received Rs 2 crore during this period, including Rs 1 crore from Maharashtra-based BG Shirke Construction Technology. This real estate giant is also the 13th highest donor to all political parties over the past five years.
AAP also received Rs 1 crore from Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited – which is the tenth highest donor to all political parties and donated a total of Rs 184 crore during the last five years.
The News Minute reported that Torrent group’s chairman emeritus Sudhir Mehta is considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The NCP received a total of Rs 2 crore before the 2019 elections from Kolkata-based Ambuja Housing and Urban Infrastructure Limited.
National Conference received Rs 50 lakhs from Bharti Airtel.
The DMK received Rs 2 crore from Mumbai-based Modern Road Makers Private Limited during this period.
The RJD received Rs 1.5 crore before the last Lok Sabha elections from top donors like Kolkata-based Quality Maintenance Venture Limited (Rs 50 lakh), along with NCR-based Richa and Co (Rs 50 lakh) and Sarita Handa Exports Private Limited (Rs 30 lakh).
