Electoral bonds: Infosys, BIOCON, Megha Engineering among top donors to JD(S).

Electoral bonds case: JD(S) received donations worth ₹89.75 crore through electoral bonds between March 20, 2018 and April 18, 2023. HD Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) received donations from corporate giants including Infosys, BIOCON, Embassy Group and JSW Steel via electoral bonds between March 20, 2018 to April 18, 2023, the party’s submission to the Election Commission had stated. On March 17, the Election Commission had uploaded data received from the political parties on donations through electoral bonds, which it had provided to the Supreme Court in sealed covers. The JD(S), which received donations worth ₹89.75 crore received via electoral bonds, was among the political parties which shared details of donors . As per the document available on ECI website, the party received ₹22 crore from Embassy Group of Companies between March 20, 2018 to April 18, 2023. On the other hand, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd donated ₹50 crore to Deve Gowda’s party, becoming its highest donor. The other top donors to the Karnataka-based party were Infosys ( ₹1 crore), Kiran Mazumdar Shaw’s BIOCON ( ₹2.50 crore), JSW Steel Ltd ( ₹5 crore) during the time period. JD(S) was among the 10 political parties including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Janata Dal (United) and others who included the names of donors along with the amounts they contributed.For instance, DMK revealed that it received ₹656.50 crore via electoral bonds, including those bought by Santiago Martin’s lottery-selling firm, Future Gaming company. Other major donors of the DMK included Megha Engineering ( ₹105 crore), India Cements ( ₹14 crore) and Sun TV ( ₹100 crore).