“What Was The Quid Pro Quo?”: Priyanka Chaturvedi Flags Jaw-Dropping Donations Flowing Into BJP Coffers
Shiv Sena UBT leader Priyanka Chaturvedi today shared a report revealing substantial donations from Santiago Martin-Owned Future Gaming and Hotel Services to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) via the Prudent Electoral Trust. “The amount it has invested in BJP is mind numbing. What was the quid pro quo?” the Rajya Sabha MP wrote on X.
According to the disclosed data, the Prudent Electoral Trust, established in 2013, has amassed a staggering Rs 2,064 crores, with approximately 75% of it channeled to the BJP. Records indicate that the trust”s contributions to the BJP eclipse those to the opposition Congress party by tenfold, amounting to Rs 156.18 crores.
Electoral trusts were introduced by the previous Congress-led government in 2013 to facilitate tax-exempt contributions to political parties, aiming to enhance transparency in campaign financing by minimizing cash donations, which are inherently difficult to track. However, some electoral experts argue that these trusts exacerbate the opacity surrounding political funding in India. With the upcoming general election expected to secure Prime Minister Narendra Modi a rare third term, the issue gains critical significance.
As the largest among India”s 18 electoral trusts, Prudent is legally obligated to disclose donor contributions and the respective amounts allocated to each party. While Prudent does not disclose donations from individual corporate contributors, Reuters used public records from 2018 to 2023 to track flows from some of India’s largest companies.
As per its analysis, eight of India”s major business conglomerates collectively donated over Rs 379 crores to the trust between 2019 and 2023, subsequently disbursed to the BJP. Companies such as ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel, Bharti Airtel, GMR, and Essar have not directly contributed to the party nor appear on its list of donors.
Entities affiliated with billionaire L.N. Mittal”s ArcelorMittal group emerged as significant donors to Prudent.
Responding to inquiries from Reuters, GMR and Bharti Airtel asserted that Prudent determines the allocation of their donations based on internal guidelines. Both companies emphasized their non-partisan stance.
Bharti Airtel, which created Prudent, transferred control to independent auditors — Mukul Goyal and Venkatachalam Ganesh — in 2014, ensuring no influence over fund disbursal decisions.
For instance, on July 12, 2021, ArcelorMittal Design and Engineering Centre Private Limited issued a Rs 45.756 crores cheque to Prudent, followed by a corresponding disbursement to the BJP the following day.
ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India allocated Rs 45.756 crores to Prudent on November 1, 2021, and another Rs 45.756 crores on November 16, 2022. Correspondingly, the sums were forwarded to the BJP on November 5, 2021, and November 17, 2022. Despite repeated requests, a spokesperson for ArcelorMittal remained unavailable for comment.
In a parallel scenario, Bharti Airtel contributed Rs 1,895 crores to Prudent on January 13, 2022, and Rs 1,137 crores on March 25, 2021. Subsequently, the trust issued cheques for those amounts to the BJP on January 14, 2023, and March 25, 2021, respectively.
Three companies within the RP-Sanjiv Goenka group – Haldia Energy India, Phillips Carbon Black, and Crescent Power – disbursed Rs 1,895 crores, Rs 1,516 crores, and Rs 379 crores on March 15, March 16, and March 19, 2021, respectively. Consequently, the BJP received Rs 45.5 crores cheque from Prudent on March 17, followed by Rs 3,790 million cheque on March 20.
Donations worth Rs 50 crores from Serum Institute and entities within the GMR Group, DLF Ltd, and Essar Group were swiftly transferred to the BJP upon receipt by Prudent. Serum Institute of India”s Covishield was procured by the government for the national programme.
Future Gaming and Hotel Services owned by lottery king Santiago Martin. The amount it has invested in BJP is mind numbing. What was the quid pro quo? https://t.co/IdmaE3zclc
— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) March 14, 2024
Public records and party reports underscore a significant increase in the BJP”s financial resources since Prime Minister Modi assumed office in 2014, escalating from Rs 780 crores in March 2014 to Rs 7,040 crores in March 2023. Conversely, Congress” funds rose from Rs 538 crores to Rs 775 crores during the same period.
Jagdeep Chhokar of the Association of Democratic Reforms, a Delhi-based civil society group and a key petitioner in the electoral bonds challenge in the Supreme Court, expressed concern over the widening financing gap between the BJP and Congress. He stressed the importance of a level playing field in democracy.
