Last week, the Election Commission of India disclosed data on Electoral Bonds purchased by various companies from the State Bank of India (SBI) and the political parties that received donations through the bonds. Ever since the ecosystem led by the Opposition has been misleading the people using the data.
Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan, who hosted the anti-Hindu Delhi riots conspiracy meeting, claimed that Megha Engineering, the second-largest purchaser of electoral bonds, contributed the maximum to the BJP in return for the huge infrastructure contracts.
In an X post on 14th March 2024, Bhushan wrote, “On 11 April 23, Megha Engineering gives 100s Crs in Electoral Bonds to whom? But within a month it gets a 14,400 cr contract from BJP’s govt! Though SBI has hidden Bond numbers from the info, some of the donors’ & parties’ matches can be guessed. Most donations seem a quid pro quo.”
He stated that the BJP was illegally taking ‘bribes’ in the form of electoral bonds from the Megha Engineering Company and giving them huge infrastructural contracts in return.
However, Megha Krishna Reddy, who runs Megha Engineering is known to be close to the Bharat Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), an information conveniently withheld by Prashant Bhushan and coterie to suit their precise agenda.
Notably, BRS is the fourth largest beneficiary of the electoral bond scheme after the BJP, TMC, and the Congress. What’s more is that the company donated cash amounting to more than Rs 100 crore to the Congress party in 2019.
Additionally, DMK, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), JD(S) and YSRCP also received donations from Megha Engineering.
Megha Engineering donated to BRS and other parties
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure – a Hyderabad-based corporation that has recently won the renowned Zojila tunnel deal among other projects, ventured into city gas and acquired a media group — is the second highest donor to political parties through electoral bonds.
As per reports, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) bought a total of Rs 966 crore worth of bonds between financial years 2019-20 and 2023-24.
Pamireddy Pitchi Reddy, a businessman, formed the unlisted private enterprise Megha Engineering Enterprises in 1989 to manufacture municipal pipes. It changed its name to Megha Engineering and Infrastructure in 2006 and went on to build major infrastructure projects including dams, natural gas distribution networks, power plants, and roadways.
The BRS-led government in Telangana granted them the Rs 1.51 lakh crore Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, which involves transferring water from the Godavari River to the state’s desert regions.
The company and the KCR government was accused of having looted the public of thousands of crore of rupees through this project. As per reports, MEIL was paid an excess of ₹5,188.43 crore in four packages.
According to the report by the Comptroller and Audit General (CAG), amount could be much more as there were 17 more such packages.
Currently, the company is also leading several projects in Telangana and its MD, PV Krishna Reddy is believed to have harmonious relations with former Chief Minister KCR.
Megha Krishna Reddy also reportedly funded the election expenses of BRS and YSRCP during the 2019 elections.
Further, Megha Engineering was charged with fraud in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) this year. In January, reports revealed that Megha Engineering took thousands of crores from the taxpayers in KLIS.
Additionally, BRS was also the second highest receipient of donations by Megha Engineering through electoral trusts in 2022-23, after the BJP. The BRS got Rs 90 crore.
MEIL has been the top contributor to the BRS in exchange for several infrastructural projects in the state. MEIL’s Krishna Reddy has a net worth of approximately Rs 15,817 crore. He also holds a sizable share of the TV9 media network.
Medha Servo Drives and Traction Equipment are owned by the same company, with Y Kashyap Reddy serving as Managing Director. The business has opened a major private rail coach manufacturing near Hyderabad after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the BRS government in 2017.
The DMK too received Rs 105 crore from Megha Engineering making the latter the second-biggest donor to the Stalin-led party. The JD(S) received more than half of its donations, that is 56%, from the firm.
AAP and YSRCP have also received donations from the company through Electoral Trusts (ETs). Megha Engineering first donated to Prudent Electoral Trust in 2022-23, which in turn donated to the parties.
Megha Engineering ‘siphoned off’ money to Congress
In 2019, MEIL was raided by the Income Tax officials and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for reportedly siphoning off cash through government expenditure using fake accounts to the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
Megha Engineerings transferred a staggering amount to the tune of Rs 100 crore, reports citing sources had claimed. According to a report by India Today, the searches at MEIL ultimately led to office bearers of the Congress who were handling this huge cash.
Electoral Bonds
In a historic decision on February 15, the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud-led bench ruled that anonymous electoral bonds violate the right to knowledge under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
The Constitution bench asked the SBI to stop issuing the bonds immediately. Furthermore, the bank was required to report information of any such bond purchases made following the court’s interim decision on 12 April 2019, to the Election Commission of India within three weeks, with a deadline of 6 March 2024.
Further on Friday (March 15), the SC categorically stated that the State Bank of India (SBI) has to disclose electoral bond numbers as well, in addition to the details it has already disclosed regarding the purchase and redemption of the bonds.
The data was published in two sheets: one for purchasers of Electoral Bonds from 12th April 2019 to 11th January 2024, and another for political parties that encashed Electoral Bonds from 12th April 2019 to 24th January 2024.
Notably, while the Opposition parties expected Adani Group or Reliance Group to top the list of purchasers of the electoral bonds, the list included names of lesser-known companies which donated huge amounts to the political parties via electoral bonds.
The top purchaser of electoral bonds was Future Gaming and Hotel Services Private Limited, which bought a whopping 1,368 bonds totaling Rs 1,368 crore. The second largest purchaser was Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited with Rs 966 crore. The third place was occupied by Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited.
With the data now released, the Opposition is projecting that BJP benefitted the most out of electoral bonds and attacking the saffron party politically even as they leave out crucial information concerning the smaller parties that have earned much beyond their merit from the companies the opponents are linking to BJP as quid pro quo.