'Top electoral bond contributors also donated to Prudent Electoral Trust'

New Delhi: Data analysis from the Election Commission reveals that numerous leading electoral bond purchasers have made substantial contributions to the Prudent Electoral Trust (PET), with 76 per cent of its donations going to the Bharatiya Janata Party between 2014 and 2023, as reported by Hindu Businessline.

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) established electoral ...trusts in 2013 to act as a ‘safe buffer’ for corporate donations to political parties. Although the Commission requires donor and recipient information to be disclosed on its website, the advent of electoral bonds has allowed for anonymous donations, deviating from transparency. The Supreme Court has ruled this unconstitutional and instructed SBI to reveal bond numbers to establish links between buyers, donors, and parties.

Several prominent donors, including Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd, Bharti Airtel group, and Arcelor group, have been noted in both electoral bond purchases and trust contribution reports submitted to the Election Commission between 2019-20 and 2022-23. Megha Engineering donated Rs 22 crore and Rs 87 crore to political parties via the Prudent Electoral Trust in 2020-21 and 2022-23, respectively, according to Times of India.

Similarly, companies under Laxmi Niwas Mittal’s Arcelor group donated a total of Rs 130 crore through the trust in 2021-22 and 2022-23, while Mittal himself donated Rs 35 crore through bonds.

ADR data also shows that the Bharti and DLF groups have consistently been among the few organizations donating to the Prudent Electoral Trust each year. Future Gaming and Hotel Services Ltd also made political contributions not solely reliant on electoral bonds. Reports filed by political parties and electoral trusts from 2019-20 to 2022-23 reveal that the company, led by ‘lottery king’ Santiago Martin, donated Rs 100 crore to the Prudent Electoral Trust in 2020-21 and then directly contributed Rs 5 crore to the BJP in 2022-23.

Future Gaming has been under the Enforcement Directorate and CBI’s scrutiny since 2019, undergoing numerous raids and property seizures. According to the Prudent Electoral Trust’s 2020-21 report, Future Gaming was the largest contributor, adding Rs 100 crore to the trust’s funds totaling Rs 245.7 crore. The BJP received the majority share of Rs 209 crore from this, with smaller amounts going to other parties like JD-U, NCP, Congress, RJD, AAP, and LJP.