Editorial With Sujit Nair | After Agency Action, More Than 2/3rd Of 26 Companies Bought Poll Bonds

HW News Editorial with Sujit Nair

In this episode of 'Editorial,' Mr. Sujit Nair delves into the topic of companies purchasing electoral bonds after the scrutiny from enforcement agencies. Out of the 26 companies under investigation, 16 made political donations through bonds only after being targeted by these agencies, while another six increased their donations following agency crackdowns. A review by The Indian Express uncovered that the BJP received 37.34% of the bonds purchased by these companies, followed by other ruling parties like TMC (18.29%), DMK (11.35%), BJD (4.48%), and BRS (8.59%). The Congress, governing in three states, received 11.97%. Between April 2019 and February 2024, these companies bought Rs 700.65 crore in bonds before facing agency actions and Rs 4,479.6 crore after. Ten companies donated over Rs 100 crore each. For instance, Future Gaming, headed by ""lottery king"" Santiago Martin, abstained from purchasing electoral bonds until a year after facing an ED probe on alleged money laundering charges. Subsequently, the Coimbatore-based company donated bonds worth Rs 503 crore to the DMK and Rs 542 crore to the ruling TMC in West Bengal, while allocating Rs 100 crore to the BJP.