Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) revealed that it gave Rs 220 crore to an electoral trust from January to March of this year. However, it is not clear which political parties benefitted from the money.
This is said to be one of the biggest donations the IT company has ever made. Tata is known to have donated to the Progressive Electoral Trust in 2013, a trust which was set up by Tata. Times of India reports that Tata has set up many electoral trusts between the years 2013 and 2016 and that Congress has been a major benefactor followed by Biju Janata Dal.
The Progressive Electoral Trust mentioned in its annual filings this year that there has been no contribution to any political party during the year 2017-18 and it actually had a deficit of Rs 54,844.
An electoral trust is a bridge between political parties and people who want to donate to them. Prudent Electoral Trust is one of the biggest electoral trust in the country and this trust's biggest contributors are Bharti Group and DLF, earning more than Rs 160 crore. Bharatiya Janata Party received Rs 144 crore of the Rs 169 crore it earned in 2017-18 from Prudent Electoral Trust.
This news comes at a time when the Supreme Court on April 12, Friday, ordered all the political parties contesting in the elections to disclose every donation which was made to them through electoral bonds till May 15.
The political parties are required to submit all details to the top court including the amount they received, the name of the donor, and the bank details of the donors. The information should be given to the Supreme Court in sealed envelopes by May 31.
