Electoral trusts since 2014 have also weighed in favour of BJP
political parties under electoral bonds is under examination, although many of these have been frequent donors, paying large sums to political parties through electoral trusts.
The latest electoral trust data speaks. Five electoral trusts gave political parties ₹366 crore in 2022-23, including ₹259.08 crore going to the ruling BJP.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure, the second-highest electoral bond giver, also donated Rs 87 crore to Prudent, the richest electoral trust that favours the BJP.
Both electoral bond and electoral trust donor lists include vaccine producer Serum Institute of India and Greenko energy.
Over time, electoral trusts have received donations from Arcelor Mittal, Essel Mining, Vedanta, Airtel Bharti, Torrent, Western UP Power Transmission Co, and real estate giant Navayuga.
Corporate money has also shifted towards BJP in recent years. Political parties' contribution and yearly audit reports reveal BJP getting more electoral bonds.
Since 2013, when Electoral Trust data was made available under new transparency criteria, the situation is similar. Public data on all Electoral Trusts founded between 2002-03 and 2012-13 is unavailable.
The Congress-BJP financial disparity reduced before the 2014 election when the BJP took office.
Satya, now Prudent, the top electoral trust, gave Congress ₹36.5 cr and BJP ₹41.3 cr in FY2013.
This difference grows significantly.
The Prudent Electoral Trust gave 96% of corporate donations to the BJP in FY17. Since then, it has sent the BJP over 85% of its
