India’s richest poll-trust drops anti-BJP parties from donation list, Congress receives only Rs 2 cr

India’s richest polls-trust comprising big companies and corporations Prudent Electoral Trust has dropped most of the anti-BJP parties from the donation list except Congress, AAP, and the RJD.

As per the Contribution Report FY 2020-21 filed by the Trust before the Election Commission, share of the donation to the Congress has dropped significantly by 93 percent this year.

While the Trust contributed Rs 209 crore to the BJP – two per cent more as compared to Rs 203 crore in the last fiscal, it contributed only Rs 2 crore this year to the principal opposition party – Congress.

The Trust had donated Rs 31 crore to Congress in last financial year.

Surprisingly, share of the donation to Nitish Kumar led JDU – which was part of the anti-BJP alliance Mahagathbandhan before joining BJP led NDA in Bihar in 2017 – rose as the party received Rs 25 crores this year, the second largest contribution after the BJP.

Parties like Shiv Sena, Akali Dal, Samajwadi Party and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) have been dropped from the list this year by the Trust.

All these parties had received donations last year.

A scrutiny of the donation reveals that the trust received Rs 245, 72 844000 but contributed Rs 245,7000000 to all parties – a decline of 9 per cent compared to the last financial year.

An analysis of the donation pattern reveals that while Prudent Electoral Trust’s contribution to political parties declined, it did a balancing act between the BJP and Congress till last year.

Out of Rs 182.3 crore, The Prudent Trust donated Rs 52.75 crore to the BJP and Rs 39 crore to the Congress in 2018-19.

In FY 2017- 18, the Trust donated Rs 169.3 crore to political parties out of which a staggering Rs 144 crore (85 per cent) went to the BJP and just Rs 10 crore was given to the Congress party.