NEW DELHI, 17 Mar: Top purchaser of electoral bonds, Future Gaming and Hotel Services, donated Rs 509 crore to Tamil Nadu’s ruling party DMK through the now scrapped payment mode, the Election Commission of India (ECI) data showed on Sunday.
The BJP received the maximum funds through these bonds at Rs 6,986.5 crore since they were introduced in 2018, followed by West Bengal’s ruling party Trinamool Congress (Rs 1,397 crore), Congress (Rs 1,334 crore) and BRS (Rs 1,322 crore).
Odisha’s ruling party BJD was the fourth largest recipient at Rs 944.5 crore, followed by DMK at Rs 656.5 crore, and Andhra Pradesh’s ruling party YSR Congress redeemed bonds worth nearly Rs 442.8 crore.
The JD (S) received bonds worth Rs 89.75 crore, including Rs 50 crore from Megha Engineering, the second largest purchaser of electoral bonds.
Future Gaming of lottery king Santiago Martin was the biggest purchaser of electoral bonds at Rs 1,368 crore, of which nearly 37 percent went to the DMK.
Other major donors of the DMK included Megha Engineering (Rs 105 crore), India Cements (Rs 14 crore) and Sun TV (Rs 100 crore).
The TMC received Rs 1,397 crore through electoral bonds, the second largest recipient after the BJP.
The DMK was among the few political parties to disclose the identity of the donors, while major parties such as the BJP, the Congress, TMC and AAP did not disclose these details to the ECI, which has now made public those filing as per a Supreme Court order.
The TDP redeemed bonds worth Rs 181.35 crore, Shiv Sena Rs 60.4 crore, RJD 56 crore, Samajwadi Party got Rs 14.05 crore via electoral bonds, Akali Dal Rs 7.26 crore, AIADMK Rs 6.05 crore, National Conference Rs 50 lakhs.
The CPI (M) has declared that it will not receive funds through electoral bonds, while filings made by the AIMIM and BSP showed nil receipts. (PTI)
