ADR Report: BJD's Rs 60 Crore Corporate Funding Came Through Cheques/DDs With Incomplete Donor Details; Odisha Donors Contributed Little| Special Report

Bhubaneswar: Even as the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) lost the State elections in 2024, the Party is still getting high-value donations from corporate entities.

The Party received entire Rs 60 crore through corporate donations that was reported under cheque/demand draft entries, however, carry incomplete donor details, according to the latest report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The report, which analysed donations above the statutory disclosure threshold received by regional political parties during FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25, found that BJD received Rs 60 crore through four corporate donations in FY 2024-25.

However, all four donations were classified as "Cheque/DD with incomplete details", making it impossible to publicly verify the identity of the original corporate donors through the party's disclosure statements.

Under the Income Tax Act and Election Commission disclosure norms, political parties are required to disclose contributions exceeding Rs 20,000, including prescribed donor particulars. While donations through banking instruments such as cheques and demand drafts are permissible, ADR observed that the donor identification details available in BJD's filings were incomplete, preventing public verification of the funding source.

Corporate funding dominated BJD donations

The ADR analysis shows that BJD's funding pattern remained overwhelmingly dependent on corporate contributions rather than individual donors from Odisha.

The report notes that the identifiable high-value funding reaching BJD largely originated from corporate establishments headquartered in major business centres such as Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, rather than from Odisha-based contributors.

Contributions from Odisha donors formed only a minuscule share of the party's overall declared donations during the reporting period.

ADR data shows documented donations originating directly out of Odisha were minimal, totaling only Rs 0.1551 crore across 10 donations over both years.

The findings indicate that institutional and corporate financing continues to be the principal source of funds for the regional party.

National shift after Electoral Bonds verdict

The ADR report also highlights a broader national trend following the Supreme Court's February 2024 judgment striking down the Electoral Bonds scheme.

With the anonymous bond route discontinued, corporate funding shifted sharply towards Electoral Trusts, which have emerged as the principal institutional channel for political donations.

According to ADR, total funding routed through Electoral Trusts jumped from Rs 1,218 crore in FY 2023-24 to more than Rs 3,826 crore in FY 2024-25, reflecting a substantial migration of corporate political funding into the regulated trust mechanism.

BJD among parties with major PAN disclosure gaps

The report identifies BJD among regional parties where public transparency regarding donor identification remained limited.

ADR found that 100% of BJD's Rs 60 crore corporate receipts during FY 2024-25 fell under cheque/DD donations carrying incomplete donor particulars, making verification of the original contributors impossible from publicly available records.

Among other regional parties:

• All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) reported Rs 184.08 crore, or about 99.5% of its annual donations, through cheques and drafts lacking complete donor identification.
• Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) received over Rs 300.64 crore through numerous contributions below the Rs 20,000 disclosure threshold, where PAN disclosure was not statutorily required.
• YSR Congress Party reported all of its Rs 140.04 crore through verified banking channels.
• Telugu Desam Party (TDP) disclosed complete donor credentials, including PAN-linked information, for about 75.5% of its receipts.

Nationally, ADR estimated that Rs 337.27 crore was received by regional parties during the two financial years without publicly available PAN records.

Electoral Trusts dominate regional party funding

The report shows Electoral Trusts emerged as the dominant institutional financiers of regional parties.

The top three Electoral Trusts together contributed Rs 536 crore, accounting for 64.4% of funding received from the country's ten largest donors.

Among them:

• Prudent Electoral Trust remained the country's largest political funding vehicle, contributing Rs 434 crore through 38 donations, accounting for more than half of the funding from the top ten donors. The trust is primarily backed and administered by Bharti Enterprises, pooling funds from corporate houses like Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Jindal Steel and Power (OP Jindal Group), Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL), Aurobindo Pharma, and DLF Limited.
• Progressive Electoral Trust, backed by the Tata Group, contributed Rs 70 crore through seven donations.
• AB General Electoral Trust, associated with the Aditya Birla Group, donated Rs 32 crore through four contributions.

Major corporate donors

Apart from Electoral Trusts, several large corporate entities also made direct contributions to regional political parties during FY 2024-25.

ADR identified M/S Tiger Associates ( a real-estate, infrastructure management, and trading entity) as the largest direct corporate donor with Rs 160 crore through five donations.

Other prominent contributors included:

• Vedanta Ltd — Rs 45 crore
• Natco Pharma Ltd — Rs 18.5 crore
• Varsity Education Management — Rs 15 crore

The report notes that several infrastructure, mining, pharmaceutical and real estate companies adopted a dual strategy of contributing both directly to political parties and indirectly through Electoral Trusts after the Electoral Bonds mechanism ceased to exist.