The purchase of electoral bonds and subsequent encashment by the then ruling party in Telangana, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), seemed to be closely linked to the award of contracts and opening of new units by donor companies, if the report submitted to the Election Commission (EC) is to be believed.
In Telangana, the BRS encashed the bonds donated by IRB Infra, which were purchased a few weeks after the Outer Ring Road (ORR) contract was awarded to the company. The BRS government gave a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) to IRB Infra on April 27, 2023, leasing out the ORR for 30 years for maintenance.
Interestingly, the company purchased bonds for ₹25 crore on July 4, 2023, and the BRS encashed the same on July 13. The purchase of bonds came just a few weeks after the LoA was awarded leading to suspicion that the bonds were a gift.
Similarly, the second unit of Kerala’s Kitex Garments was established in Ranga Reddy district on September 28, 2023, and Kitex Childrenwear bought bonds for ₹10 crore on October 12 and the BRS encashed the same on October 16. The same company had started its first unit in Warangal and the BRS government announced on June 16, 2023, that the unit will become operational. After three weeks on July 5, the company bought bonds worth ₹15 crore and the same were encashed by the BRS on July 17.
All parties benefit
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 were not just for the political party in power but also for parties that were not even the principal Opposition, albeit the sum vastly differed, with relatively smaller amounts for some recipients.
Details of the electoral bonds bought by companies across the country emerged after the State Bank of India on Thursday released additional information pertaining to the scheme. This followed the Supreme Court’s directive to the SBI to make a complete disclosure to the Election Commission for publication.
Infrastructure developer Megha Group, through its several group firms, had emerged as the largest purchaser of electoral bonds from the region – for ₹1,186 crore – which it donated to several parties. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got the most at ₹584 crore. Some of the other recipients were the BRS (₹195 crore), DMK (₹85 crore), YSRCP (₹37 crore); TDP (₹28 crore) and the Congress, which got ₹22.5 crore.
Recipients of the bonds bought by pharma major Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories were the BRS, which got ₹32 crore; BJP ₹25 crore; Congress ₹14 crore; and the TDP ₹13 crore.
According to the bond data, Natco Pharma, another well-known name in pharma industry from Hyderabad, purchased more than ₹69 crore worth electoral bonds, which were encashed by the BRS, BJP, TDP, Congress, Jana Sena Party and the YSRCP.
Aurobindo Pharma, a leader in the pharma industry and one of whose directors was arrested by ED in November 2022 in Delhi liquor policy case, donated ₹34.5 crore to BJP; ₹15 crore to the BRS and ₹2.5 crore to the TDP. Subsidiary Eugia Pharma Specialities purchased bonds for ₹15 crore that were encashed by the BJP.
There were also companies that donated electoral bonds to only one political party. Figuring on this list are pharma company Granules (bought bonds for ₹3 crore); and vaccine maker Bharat Biotech (₹10 crore) as well as Chiron Behring Vaccines (₹5 crore), which donated to the TDP, while the BJP was the recipient of bonds donated 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.
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) were among the firms that donated to the BRS.
The electoral bonds bought by Inorbit Malls were for the Congress (₹20 crore) and the BRS (₹5 crore).
The BRS, TDP and the Jana Sena Party were recipients of the electoral bonds purchased by Sri Chaitanya Students Facility Management, while the bonds bought by Koneru Raviteja went to the BRS.
Recipients of the bonds purchased by Sagar Cements were the BRS, YSRCP, TDP, Congress and the BJP. Rithwik Projects purchased bonds that went to the TDP, Congress and the JD(Secular). Among firms in the renewable energy space, Mytrah’s electoral bonds were for the BRS, Congress and the BJP, while a number of Greenko firms donated to the BRS, BJP and the YSRCP.
Fourth largest recipient
The BRS emerged as the fourth largest receiver of funds from the electoral bonds in the country pushing aside some of the major national parties.
The party received donations to the tune of ₹1,322 crore through the 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 the State Bank of India to the Election Commission, 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 such as ITC, Raheja, Rajpushpa and Yashoda Hospitals. Major recipients of bonds purchased by Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital were the BRS, which got ₹94 crore; and the Congress that received ₹64 crore.
