The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got over 76% of donations made by electoral trusts to the parties in 2019-20, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
This came to the fore as the electoral trusts submitted their annual reports for 2019-2020 to the Election Commission of India.
According to the ADR report, 14 out of the 21 registered trusts submitted their annual reports to the poll body and seven of those declared that they had received funds that were then given to the parties.
The trusts, as per the ADR report, gave a total of Rs 362.91 crore to the political parties with the BJP receiving the largest share followed by the Congress which got Rs 31 crore, and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which received Rs 11.26 crore.
The Prudent Electoral Trust contributed Rs 271.5 crore, the Jankalyan Electoral Trust gave Rs 70.95 crore and AB General Electoral Trust contributed Rs 10 crore.
The ADR report said the JSW Steel Ltd. contributed the highest amount worth Rs 39.10 crore amongst all donors of the electoral trusts followed by Apollo Tyres Ltd. with Rs 30 crore and Indiabulls Infraestate Ltd. which gave Rs 25 crore.
The report further said the Paribartan Electoral Trust through electoral bonds declared Rs 3 crore donation to a party. The party’s name was, however, not revealed.