TRS way ahead in getting poll funds, received Rs.89.5 cr as donations in 2019-20

HYDERABAD: The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) received Rs 89.55 crore in donations from corporates and individuals in 2019-20, according to the latest annual funding report submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI). Interestingly, no other regional party in both the Telugu states stands anywhere near the TRS on this count.

The ruling YSRC in Andhra Pradesh received Rs 8.92 crore and the opposition Telugu Desam Rs 2.60 crore. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), on the other hand, received Rs 13.85 lakh donations.

The TRS accepted donations of over Rs 20,000 each from 41 individuals amounting to Rs 39.92 lakh while it received Rs 89.15 crore from corporates via electoral bonds totalling Rs 89.55 crore. However, it did not disclose the details of corporate houses which donated funds but listed the names of 41 individuals who donated amounts of over Rs 20,000 each. Among them, TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao donated the highest amount of Rs 2.5 lakh.

One K. Naveen Kumar also donated Rs 2.5 lakh. The rest of the individual donations were in the range of Rs 20,000 to Rs 2 lakh.

For YSRC, the highest amount donated by a corporate was Rs 2.50 crore. The amount was donated by JSR Infra Developers Pvt Ltd, a Chennai-based firm. Among individual donations, one P Sivakumar Reddy from Guduru town donated Rs 1 crore. Arimenda Varaprasad Reddy and his wife Vijaya Sarada Reddy, who run a chain of engineering colleges in Hyderabad, donated Rs 60 lakh each.

The TD received the highest donation of Rs 1 crore from Triumph Electoral Trust, Chennai. Balaram Vemuri from Vijayawada donated Rs 80 lakh, Janachaitanya Housing Pvt Ltd from Guntur donated Rs 20 lakh and Anil Swati Balaram Foundation donated Rs 20 lakh.

The AIMIM received donations of Rs 3 lakh each from four individuals towards helicopter rent from Jharkhand and Maharashtra, where AIMIMchief Asaduddin Owaisi held election rallies.