According to the electoral bonds data released by the State Bank of India and published by the Election Commission of India on March 14, 2024, Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR, led by lottery magnate Santiago Martin, was the single largest donor to political parties between April 12, 2019, and January 24, 2024.
During this period, Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR donated a cumulative sum of ₹1,368 crores through electoral bonds. It is worth noting that the Enforcement Directorate had previously attached ₹411 crore in the bank accounts of this firm and other companies in March 2022 and later filed a prosecution complaint against it under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
Top Political Parties and Their Encashment of Electoral Bonds
Among the political parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) encashed electoral bonds worth ₹6,060.5 crore, the highest among all parties, within the specified period. The BJP’s share of the total bonds encashed by parties was over 47.5%.
The All India Trinamool Congress received ₹1,609.50 crore (12.6%) via electoral bonds, followed by the Congress with ₹1,421.9 crore (11.1%), making them the second and third biggest parties in terms of encashment during the period.
Other parties that encashed more than ₹500 crore worth of electoral bonds during this period include the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (9.5%), Biju Janata Dal (6.1%), and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (5%).
Other Major Donors
Apart from Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR, other major donors during this period include Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited, which donated ₹966 crore, and Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited, which donated ₹410 crore.
The remaining firms in the top ten donor list for this period were Haldia Energy Limited (₹377 crore), Vedanta Limited (₹375.65 crore), Essel Mining and Industries Limited (₹224.45 crore), Western UP Power Transmission Company Limited (₹220 crore), Bharti Airtel Limited (₹198 crore), and Keventer Foodpark Infra Ltd (₹195 crore).
Overall Electoral Bond Statistics
In total, donors purchased electoral bonds worth over ₹12,155 crore during this period, and political parties encashed more than ₹12,769 crore worth of bonds.
Source of Information
The information regarding the electoral bonds data and the top donors was released by the Election Commission of India on March 14, 2024, after the State Bank of India disclosed the data on March 12, 2024, as directed by the Supreme Court. The data was uploaded on the Election Commission of India’s website on an “as is where is” basis.
