Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the largest chunk (92 per cent) of donations above Rs 20,000 to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were from corporate and business houses.
A total of 704 donations from corporate/business sectors amounting to Rs 157.84 crore were made to BJP during 2013-14, says an analysis of donations to national parties by non-profit election watchdogs, the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch.
Among the BJP’s top three corporate donors are Bharti Group’s Satya Electoral Trust, which donated the highest Rs 41.37 crore from three donations, followed by Sterlite Industries India Ltd that donated Rs 15 crore from four donations and Cairn India which donated Rs 7.50 crores from two donations to the party.
“It is to be noted that none of the above three donated to BJP during FY 2012-13”, ADR said in a release.
The donations declared by BJP amount to 69 per cent of the total donations declared by all the national parties together, ADR said, adding that the total amount of donations above Rs 20,000 received by national political parties during 2013-14, calculated from the donations report submitted to the EC annually, stood at Rs 247.79 crore.
“It is to be noted that three donations from individuals from Singapore (Ashish Todi, Vikas Dhanuka, PC Prasad) were made to BJP, amounting to a total of Rs 8.50 lakh. These were the only declared donations from outside India,” said ADR, adding that the PAN numbers were not given in all three donations, which were paid through cheques.
The ADR analysis also found some discrepancies in the declaration. “Donations made by A to Z Online Services Pvt. Ltd. (Rs 84 lakh) and Jumana Goolam Vahanvati (Rs 20 lakh) were through the same cheque number (957). Similarly, donations made by Ravi Developers (Rs 7.50 lakhs) and Ravi Development (Rs 7.50 lakhs) were through the same cheque number (7939569).”
Noting that PAN details of the first four donors were not declared in the contributions report of the party, ADR said full details of all donors should be made available for public scrutiny under RTI, as in some countries abroad.
Political parties were required to submit their contributions report for 2013-14 to the Election Commission before October 2014. The report from BJP was received only on December 20, 2014.
