The party which led the coalition government with the BJP in Punjab for two terms from 2007 to 2017 received donations worth Rs 101.81 crore from 349 companies and persons
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Ambuja Cement donated Rs 75 lakh, Mumbai-based Trig Detective Rs 50 lakh and its sister concern Trig Guardforce Limited gave Rs 21 lakh.(HT Representative Image
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Real estate developers, Ludhiana-based cycle industry and party leaders were major donors for the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) between 2005 and 2015.
The party which led the coalition government with the BJP in Punjab for two terms from 2007 to 2017 received donations worth Rs 101.81 crore from 349 companies and persons of which only Rs 13 crore was declared to be from known sources.
In a report released by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Friday, the SAD — which remained a defaulter for four years (2005 to 2009) for not submitting details of funds to the Election Commission — got Rs 1.5 crore from electoral trusts — Rs 1 crore from Satya Electoral Trust and Rs 50 lakh from Bharti Electoral Trust.
Ambuja Cement donated Rs 75 lakh, Mumbai-based Trig Detective Rs 50 lakh and its sister concern Trig Guardforce Limited gave Rs 21 lakh. Besides, NRI businessman from the US Charanjit Singh Dhaliwal (brother of former Akali minister Surjit Singh Rakhra) gave Rs 25 lakh, and one Harvinder Pal Singh Desumajra also gave the same amount to the party fund. Punj Lloyd, a private finance company, gave Rs 20 lakh, reveals the report.
Former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is also party’s president, donated Rs 93,000 each to the party. Apart from this, almost all party leaders who remained ministers and MLAs in the Akali-BJP government gave Rs 60,000 to Rs 93,000 each.
Bains brothers — Simarjeet Singh and Balwinder Singh — also donated Rs 42,000 each to the Akali Dal before leaving the party, reveals the ADR report.
Real estate developers, including Janta Land Promoters, which is owned by Mohali mayor Kulwant Singh, contributed Rs 15 lakh to the party fund. He joined the Akali Dal before the assembly polls and quit after contesting the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Motia Developers (Rs 10 lakh), Barnala Building and Property Consultants (Rs 15 lakh) and GS Promoters, Surya Contractors, Saini Developers and Sohi Builders donated Rs 5 lakh each.
From within the party office-bearers Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) general secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa donated Rs 21 lakh in 2008 when he was youth wing president of the SAD in New Delhi. Ludhiana-based cycle manufacturers Avon and Ralson also contributed Rs 5 lakh each to the party fund.
“We need to know who all contributed less than Rs 20,000 as a major chunk of funds come from them,” said Trilochan Sastry, founder member of the ADR.
The ADR also released figures of other political parties, including the BJP, Congress CPI, NCP and BSP, and disclosed that 70% of their donation were form unknown sources.
The AAP collected Rs 110 crore in three years but declare only Rs 45.45 crore. The report reveals that the party started collecting donations in 2012-13 and in three years, it amassed Rs 110 core, Rs 9 crore more what the SAD collected in 10 years. There are 8,793 donors on the AAP’s declared list, and most of them are small businessmen and private firms.