Political donations: BJP tops list for seventh consecutive year, leads Congress by 500% margin

The Bharatiya Janata party tops the list of donations from individuals and businesses, pocketing around Rs 750 crore in 2019-2020, the Indian Express reported citing data submitted by political parties to the electoral commission. In 2019-2020, the saffron festival received donations worth around Rs 750 crore from companies and individuals, shows its contribution report submitted to the EC, according to the report. The amount contrasts sharply with the Rs 139 crore received by Congress during the same period. Donations to Congress for the 2019-20 fiscal year are five times less than what the BJP received. This is the seventh year in a row that the BJP has topped the list of political donations.

Other regional parties obtained much less than these two parties. Sharad Pawar’s NCP received Rs 59 crore, TMC Rs 8 crore, CPM Rs 19.6 crore and CPI Rs 1.9 crore.

Major donors who have supported the BJP include Jupiter Capital under MK Rajeev Chandrasekhar, ITC Group, real estate companies Macrotech Developers and BG Shirke Construction Technology, the Prudent Electoral Trust and Jankalyan Electoral Trust, EI reported.

An election trust is created under section 25 to receive voluntary contributions from donors, then returns the amount to political parties, giving the contributors anonymity. According to the Indian Express, the Prudent Electoral Trust counts among its main donors Bharti Enterprises, GMR Airport Developers and DLF Limited. The Jankalyan Electoral Trust receives funds from JSW group companies.

BJP had received Rs 20 crore from Gulmarg Realtors in October 2019. The company is associated with builder Sudhakar Shetty. The Directorate of Enforcement raided Shetty’s residence and office in January 2020.

At least 14 educational institutions also donated to the saffron festival. These include Mewar University, Delhi (Rs 2 crore), Pathania Public School, Rohtak (Rs 2.5 lakh), Krishna Institute of Engineering (Rs 10 lakh), GD Goenka International School, Surat (Rs 2.5 lakh), Little Hearts Convent School, Bhiwani (Rs 21,000) and Allen Career, Kota (Rs 25 lakh).

There are many BJP members, deputies and deputies including Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar, Deputy Rajya Sabha Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Pema Khandu and Kirron Kher who have donate to the party.

Total BJP contributions in 2019-2020 can be well over Rs 750 crore, as the list only includes donations over Rs 20,000.