The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) received ₹656.5 crore in total through the electoral bond route, of which ₹509 crore was received from Santiago Martin’s Future Gaming and Hotel services, the largest donor to political parties in the country.
Of the ₹1,368 crore worth of bonds purchased by Future Gaming and Hotel Services between April 12, 2019 and January 24, 2024, 37% went to the DMK.
The DMK also received ₹105 crore from “Mega Infrastructure”. Incidentally, while the DMK has merely mentioned the name of the donor as “Mega Infrastructure”, an analysis of the Election Commission of India’s (EC) data showed that the contributor is likely to be Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited (MEIL), as the dates on which the bonds were purchased by the company and dates on which the equivalent sums were encashed by the DMK, match.
