From pharmaceutical drugmakers, healthcare providers, infrastructure as well as realty developers to those in educational services, several companies across industries in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh had purchased electoral bonds that were encashed by different political parties.
The bonds, which in effect are donations totalling several crore rupees made by the companies to political parties, were not just for the ruling party, as the instruments purchased by some firms were also for parties that were not even the principal opposition, albeit a vast difference in the sums involved.
Details of the electoral bonds bought by companies across the country emerged with the State Bank of India on March 21, 2024, releasing additional information pertaining to the bond scheme. The Supreme Court earlier this week had asked SBI to make a complete disclosure to the Election Commission of India for publication.
Infrastructure developer Megha Group, through several group firms, which at ₹1,186 crore had emerged as the largest purchaser of electoral bonds from the region, had donated to several parties. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got the most at ₹584 crore while some of the other recipients were the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) which got ₹195 crore, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) – ₹85 crore, YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) – ₹37 crore. Telugu Desam Party (TDP) – ₹28 crore, and the Congress – ₹22.5 crore.
Recipients of the bonds bought by pharma major Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories were the BRS (₹32 crore), BJP (₹25 crore), Congress (₹14 crore) and the TDP (₹13 crore).
Also read: Companies under ED, I-T scanner donated poll bonds to BJP, BRS, Congress
Natco Pharma, another well-known pharma company in Hyderabad, purchased electoral bonds worth over ₹69 crore that were encashed by Congress (₹12.25 crore), BJP (₹15 crore), BRS (₹20 crore), TDP (₹14 crore), YSRCP (₹3 crore) and the Jana Sena Party (₹5 crore).
Aurobindo Pharma, one of whose directors was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November 2022 in the Delhi liquor policy case, donated ₹34.50 crore to the BJP, ₹15 crore to the BRS and ₹2.50 crore to the TDP. Subsidiary Eugia Pharma Specialities purchased bonds ₹15 crore that were encashed by the BJP.
There are cases where a single political party was the recipient of the electoral bonds bought by some companies, such as pharma firm Granules (₹3 crore), vaccine maker Bharat Biotech (₹10 crore) and Chiron Behring Vaccines (₹5 crore) whose recipient was the TDP. Similarly, BJP was the sole recipient of bonds purchased by IT firm Cyient (₹10 crore) and construction firm NCC (₹60 crore).
Pharma group MSN, through different companies, donated ₹18 crore to the BJP and ₹20 crore to the BRS. Similarly, another pharma group Hetero, again through different companies, donated ₹50 crore to the BRS and ₹10 crore to the BJP.
Kitex Garments and another group firm, which hit the headlines after announcing a major investment in a textile project in Telangana during the previous BRS regime, purchased bonds worth ₹25 crore that were encashed by the BRS.
The BRS also counted among its donors the following firms: Hazelo Labs (₹12.5 crore); Hindys Labs (₹17.5 crore), Welspun Living (₹5 crore), BSCPL Infrastructure (₹1.5 crore), Tellapur Technocity (₹20 crore), KNR Constructions (₹10 crore), Tsharks Infra Developers (₹3.5 crore), Tsharks Overseas Education (₹4 crore) and NSL SEZ Hyderabad (₹24.5 crore). The electoral bonds bought by Inorbit Malls were for Congress (₹20 crore) and BRS (₹5 crore).
The BRS, TDP and JSP were recipients of electoral bonds purchased by Sri Chaitanya Students Facility Management, while the bonds bought by Koneru Raviteja, an entrepreneur, went to the BRS.
Recipients of the bonds purchased by Sagar Cements were BRS, YSRCP, TDP, Congress and BJP. Rithwik Projects purchased bonds that went to TDP, Congress and Janata Dal (Secular). Among firms in the renewable energy space, Mytrah’s electoral bonds were for BRS, Congress and BJP, while a number of Greenko firms donated to the BRS, BJP and YSRCP.
BRS gets bonds worth ₹1,322 crore
BRS emerged as the fourth largest receiver of funds from the electoral bonds in the country pushing aside some of the biggest national parties.
The party received donations to the tune of ₹1,322 crore through electoral bonds and more than half of the donations were received in just four days. It received bonds worth ₹663 crore in just four days.
As per the details submitted by SBI to the ECI, the party received ₹268 crore on April 12, 2022 while it received ₹92 crore a day before that on April 11, 2022. The party received ₹218 crore on July 13, 2023 while it received ₹85 crore on October 8, 2021.
Besides the Megha Engineering Group, the party received large sums from pharma, construction and healthcare entities like ITC, Raheja, Rajpushpa and Yashoda Hospitals.
Major recipients of bonds purchased by Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital were the BRS (₹94 crore) and Congress (₹64 crore)..
