Hyderabad: Kakinada Sea Ports Limited, that was embroiled in a controversy over land, was among the top 20 donors to the BJP in 2017-18. Its office in Banjara Hills donated Rs 5 crore to the party.
Interestingly, Narayana Education Society, owned by Andhra Pradesh minister P. Narayana, donated Rs 5 lakh to the BJP. The society donated the money the same year the TD severed its ties with the BJP.
The data was mined from the submission that national political parties made regarding their donations to the Election Commission.
The BJP received donations worth Rs 437.04 crore, the highest among all parties. The Congress came second with Rs 26.65 crore.
The BJP received over 12 times the aggregate declared by the Congress, NCP, CPI, CPM and Trinamul.
Overall, the total donations received by national parties during 2017-18 decreased by Rs 119.49 crore, down 20 per cent, from the previous financial year, 2016-17.
A majority of donors are from the corporate or business sector. From Hyderabad there were 25 donors for the BJP and three for the Congress.
Major donors for the BJP in the city include Peena Cement Industries limited, Visaka Industries Pvt Limited, Niharika Infrastructure Pvt Limited, Riddhi Engineers, GVPR Engineers, BRC Infra, Ark Builders, Hetero Labs Limited, R.C. Reddy of the IAS Study Circle, Sri Kalyan Chakravarti Memorial Educational Trust at Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar.
A few members of the public were also among the donors even though the BJP does not have a large presence in the Telugu states. Congress leader Challa Vamshi Chand and GMC Projects are the only two donors to the Congress from Hyderabad. Across the country, Prudent Electoral Trust donated Rs 154.30 crore to the BJP — 35 per cent of the total funds the party has received — and '10 crore to the Congress (38 per cent of its total funds). The trust’s donations to the two parties totalled Rs 164.30 crore.
