Top poll bonds donor gave Rs 509 crore to MK Stalin’s party, reveals new data

Future Gaming and Hotel Services, the top purchaser of electoral bonds, a funding tool for political parties, donated Rs 509 crore to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Tamil Nadu’s ruling party.

The information was revealed after the Election Commission released the electoral bonds data submitted to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover.

In total, DMK received Rs 656.5 crore through electoral bonds, of which 77 per cent (Rs 509 crore) came from the lottery king Santiago Martin’s Future Gaming.

Future Gaming is the top buyer of electoral bonds according to data shared by the poll body. Out of their purchase of electoral bonds worth Rs 1,368 crore, 37 per cent went to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s party.

Other major donors of the DMK included Megha Engineering (Rs 105 crore), India Cements (Rs 14 crore) and Sun TV (Rs 100 crore), reported news agency PTI.

DMK stood out as one of the few political parties that chose to reveal the identities of their donors. In contrast, prominent parties like the BJP, Congress, TMC, and AAP refrained from disclosing such information to the Election Commission. However, following a Supreme Court order, the Election Commission has now made these filings public.

With Rs 6,986.5 crore, the BJP tops the list of parties receiving funding through bonds since its introduction in 2018. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is second with Rs 1,397 crore, followed by the Congress (Rs 1,334 crore) and BRS (Rs 1,322 crore).