Both trusts have submitted their annual contribution statements to the poll panel…reports Asian Lite news
A contribution report of Mumbai-based AB General Electoral Trust disclosed that the trust donated Rs 10 crore to the BJP in the financial year 2021-22.
As per the contributions details received by the Election Commission of India, the trust received Rs 10 crore in two instalments of Rs 5 crore each from Hindalco Industries Ltd and donated the entire sum to the BJP in two similar instalments.
The donations were made on March 3 and March 25, 2022, said the report.
Similarly, Chennai-based Triumph Electoral Trust received Rs 50 lakh from Tube Investments of India Limited in FY 2021-22. The trust donated the amount to DMK, the ruling party in Tamil Nadu, on April 1, 2021.
Both trusts have submitted their annual contribution statements to the poll panel.
As per the Election Commission, there are 19 electoral trusts. These trusts are non-profit companies established for receiving donations from a person or a company and distributing the same to political parties.
In April, an analysis revealed that seven Electoral Trusts, which have declared receiving contributions during FY 2020-21, have got a total amount of Rs 258.49 crore from corporates and individuals and distributed Rs 258.43 crore (99.97 per cent) to various political parties, an analysis released on Thursday said.
Top 10 donors have donated Rs 223.00 crore to Electoral Trusts, which forms 86.27 per cent of the total donations received by the Trusts during FY 2020-21 and BJP received Rs 212.05 crore or 82.05 per cent of the total donations received by all political parties from Electoral Trusts.
The major parties that received donations include BJP, JDU, INC, NCP, AIADMK, DMK, RJD, AAP, LJP, CPM, CPI and Loktantrik Janta Dal, the analysis by Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) said.
Future Gaming & Hotel Services contributed the highest amount worth Rs 100 crore amongst all donors of the Electoral Trusts, followed by Haldia Energy India Ltd with Rs 25 crore and Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited which contributed Rs 22 crore, to various Trusts.
As many as 159 individuals have contributed to Electoral Trusts in FY 2020-21: Two individuals contributed Rs 3.50 crore to Prudent Electoral Trust, 153 individuals contributed Rs 3.202 crore to Small Donations Electoral Trust, three individuals gave a total of Rs 5 lakh to Einzigartig Electoral Trust and one individual contributed Rs 1,100 to Independent Electoral Trust, ADR said in a statement.
Top 10 donors have donated Rs 223.00 crore to Electoral Trusts, which forms 86.27 per cent of the total donations received by the trusts during FY 2020-21.
Prudent Electoral Trust donated Rs 209.00 crore to BJP, in contrast to Rs 217.75 crore contributed in FY 2019-20, while Jaybharath Electoral Trust donated Rs 2.00 crore of its total income to BJP in FY 2020-21.
Electoral Trust donated Rs 3.31 crore to INC. Prudent Electoral Trust donated to seven political parties, including major parties such as BJP, JDU, INC, NCP, RJD, AAP & LJP.
BJP received Rs 212.05 crore or 82.05 per cent of the total donations received by all political parties from Electoral Trusts while JDU received Rs 27 crore or 10.45 per cent of the total donations received by all parties from all Seven Electoral Trusts.
Other 10 political parties including INC, NCP, AIADMK, DMK, RJD, AAP, LJP, CPM, CPI and Lok Thanthrik Jantha Dal received a total of Rs 19.3801 crore collectively, the ADR analysis said.
There were 21 Electoral Trusts registered with the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) as per Election Commission guidelines as of 2019 and the updated list of approved Electoral Trusts by CBDT on September 8, 2021, shows there are two new Electoral Trusts registered.
Of those 23, 16 have submitted their contribution reports and only seven Trusts declared receiving contributions from various corporate houses and individuals. Registrations of four electoral Trusts namely, Bajaj Electoral Trust, Gauri Welfare Association Electoral Trust, Pratinidhi Electoral Trust and Bhartiya Socialist Republican Electoral Trust Association were not renewed.
