Hyderabad: Electoral trusts distributed Rs 1,218 crore across several parties during the financial year 2023-24, with the BJP emerging as the largest recipient (Rs 856 crore), accounting for 70.3% of the total donations. The Congress got Rs 156 crore, representing 12.8% of the total funds.
Among the regional parties from the two Telugu states, the BRS received Rs 85 crore (6.9%), followed by YSRCP (Rs 72 crore), the TDP (Rs 33 crore) and the Jana Sena Party (Rs 5 crore).
Major Contributors to Electoral Trusts
Corporate donations played a significant role in funding electoral trusts. ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Ltd and DLF Ltd contributed Rs 100 crore each, making them the largest donors. Maatha Projects LLP, a Hyderabad-based firm followed with Rs 75 crore. CESC Ltd and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd each donated Rs 60 crore, and Hetero Labs contributed Rs 50 crore.
In the previous financial year, Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd made the highest contribution of Rs 87 crore, followed by Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd with Rs 50.25 crore and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Ltd with Rs 50 crore.
Telangana Get Maximum Electoral Trust Donations
Telangana emerged as the state that received the highest donations through electoral trusts, amounting to approximately Rs 170 crore across 19 donations. A significant portion of these funds was channelled through the Prudent Electoral Trust, which remains the dominant contributor among all electoral trusts.
Prudent Electoral Trust alone donated Rs 723.78 crore to the BJP, marking a substantial increase from the Rs 256.25 crore it contributed in FY 2022-23. It also provided Rs 156.40 crore to the Congress.
Triumph Electoral Trust, another major player, contributed Rs 127.50 crore of its total income to the BJP.
Questions Over Transparency and Regulatory Oversight
An analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) raised questions about the functioning of electoral trusts.
Out of the 15 electoral trusts that submitted reports for FY 2023-24, nine (60%) reported receiving no contributions during the year. Since their registration, two electoral trusts either did not receive any donations or did not publicly disclose their reports. Two other trusts received contributions only once since being established, raising questions about their continued existence.
Additionally, the reports of four registered electoral trusts – Janta Nirvachak Electoral Trust, Independent Electoral Trust, Small Donations Electoral Trust, and Janhit Electoral Trust – were not available on the Election Commission of India’s website, despite the deadline passing three months ago.
Paribartan Electoral Trust was noted for disbursing Rs 1 crore through electoral bonds for the financial year 2023-24.
