Behind the doors of a small, nondescript office in the heart of New Delhi lies the headquarters of an electoral trust run by just two men that is the largest-known donor to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), according to a Reuters review of public records.
The Prudent Electoral Trust has raised $272 million since its creation in 2013, funnelling roughly 75% of that to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party. The trust’s donations to the BJP total 10 times as much as the $20.6 million it issued to the Opposition Congress, the records show.
The previous Congress-led government introduced electoral trusts in 2013 to allow for tax-exempt contribution to parties. It said the mechanism would make campaign financing more transparent by reducing cash contributions, which are harder to trace.
