Indian Express Mumbai, Fri, 15 Mar 24

DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 L Loan support of ₹11 thousand crore to over 82 lakh street vendors Hamara Sankalp Viksit Bharat PETITIONER LAWYER BHUSHAN says will ask SC to match lists ELECTION COMMISSION PUTS OUT bond buyers, party redemptions Scan for more information ONE NATION, ONE ELECTION REPORT MOST FIRMS IN AREAS THAT NEED Centre, State licences, approvals Who paid the parties Curtail terms of Assemblies, sync with Lok Sabha polls: Kovind panel INFRASTRUCTURE, CONSTRUCTION, MINING, PHARMA COMPANIES DOMINATE DONOR LIST FUTURE GAMING, MEGHA ENGINEERING, VEDANTA First veil of secrecy is lifted; top 20 donors account for just under half of the total Rs 12,156 crore purchased through electoral bonds 2019-24 ANJISHNU DAS & DAMINI NATH NEW DELHI, MARCH 14 ATLEASToneveilof secrecyover political funding in India lifted days before the notification of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Pushed and prodded by the Supreme Court which struck down the electoral bonds scheme--introducedbythefirst Narendra Modi government in 2018--theElectionCommission of India released Thursday the list of those who purchased bonds. Among the biggest companies that donated money to JINDAL, RUNGTA Mining, steel majors spent `825 crore, among them firms awaiting green nod NIKHIL GHANEKAR & JAY MAZOOMDAAR political parties through the Electoral Bond scheme are Anil Agarwal-promotedVedantaLtd, Sunil Mittal-promoted Bharti Airtel, AV Birla Group-promoted Essel Mining Ltd, Bajaj Auto Ltd and DLF Ltd. The total amount donated under the scheme from April 1, 2019 to February 15, 2024, was Rs 12,156 crore, of which almost half came from the top 20 donors alone, the data provided by the State Bank of India to the ECI showed. What is missing, however, is theuniquebondnumberagainst each purchase and encashment, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 5daysafterEDattachedRs409-crassets,FutureGamingboughtbondsworthRs100cr DEEPTIMAN TIWARY & MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL NEW DELHI, MARCH 14 THREE OF the top five poll bond donors to political parties between 2019 and 2024 are companieswhichhaveboughtbonds even as they face Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax probes. These include lottery company Future Gaming, infrastruc- ture firm Megha Engineering and mining giant Vedanta. The No. 1 purchaser of electoral bonds in the data released by the Election Commission Thursday is Future Gaming and Hotels Pvt Ltd run by Santiago Martin.Thelotterycompanyhas purchasedbondsworthRs1,300 crore between 2019 and 2024. Notably, ED began a money laundering probe against Future Gaming in early 2019. By July that year, it had attached assets worth over Rs 250 crore belong- ing to the company. On April 2, 2022, the ED attached movable assets worth Rs 409.92 crore in the case. On April 7, five days after the attachment of these assets, Future Gaming bought Rs 100 crore in electoral bonds. TheEDinitiatedinvestigation under the provisions of PMLA against Santiago Martin and his company M/s Future Gaming Solutions (P) Ltd (Presently M/s Future Gaming and Hotel Services (P) Ltd and formerly 123 152 62 TWO INDIAN COAST GUARD MEN HELD FOR RAPING 15-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER OF THEIR COLLEAGUE PAGE 3 Martin Lottery Agencies Ltd) on the basis of a chargesheet filed by Central Bureau of investigation (CBI). According to ED, Martin and others entered into a criminal conspiracy to violate the provisions of Lottery Regulation Act, 1998 and to obtain wrongful gain by cheating Sikkim Government. “Martin and his associates made illegal gain to the extent of Rs 910.3 crores on account of inflating the prize winning tickets CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GOVT WILL bring in TO SET in motion the process of simultaneouselections,thehighlevel committee on one nation, one election chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind has recommended that the term of StateAssemblieselectedafterthe firstsittingofanewly-electedLok Sabha be curtailed till the elections to the next Lok Sabha. In case the government falls in the Centre or any state, the committee has recommended that elections should be held only for the remainder of the THE PRESIDENT, on the date CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NETWORK EX-BUREAUCRATS SUKHBIR SANDHU, constitutional amendments. of the first sitting of new LS, will issue notification. E TENURE OF state assemblies ● will last only till the end of the ongoing LS term. AFTER THAT, Lok Sabha and state assembly elections will be held simultaneously. Local polls will be held within 100 days of these elections. GYANESH KUMAR NEW ELECTION COMMISSIONERS; ADHIR DISSENTS P13 The top 20 electoral bond purchasers From lottery to mining, from thermal power to mobile network — the top donors, according to data uploaded by the Election Commission Future Gaming and Hotel Services Pvt Ltd `1,368 cr Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd `966 cr Whatitdoes: Lotterybusiness, HQinCoimbatore, establishedin1991 Vedanta Ltd Essel Mining and Industries Ltd Mining,largest producerof aluminiumin India,est1965 `377 cr `410 cr Damsandpower projects.Basedin Telangana, est1989 Ironoremining, locatedin Mumbai, est1950 `376 cr मा. धानमं ी Thermalpower plantlocatedin WestBengal’s Haldia,est2015 Logisticsand supplychain. Establishedin 2000 Keventer Food Park Infra Ltd `195 cr DairyandFMCG, basedinKolkata, WestBengal Western UP Power Transmission Co `225 cr MKJ Enterprises Ltd `192 cr Tradingin stainlesssteel business.HQin Kolkata,est1982 Þeer. SkeÀveeLe efMebos cee. cegK³eceb$eer mevceeveveer³e DeefleLeer Þeer. Deeefol³e "eJeÀjs Þeer. DejeEJeo meeJeble Þeer. megefve} eEµeos cee. mLeeefveJeÀ Deeceoej cee. mLeeefveJeÀ Keemeoej Þeer. jepenbme eEmen cee. Deeceoej cee. Deeceoej JeÀe³e&¬eÀcee®es DeO³e#e [e@. F eEme ®en} ceneveiejHeeef}JeÀe Dee³egJeÌle leLee ÒeµeemeJeÀ 1,421.87 1,214.71 Þeerceleer Deeeféeveer efYe[s DeefleefjJeÌle ceneveiejHeeef}JeÀe Dee³egJeÌle (HetJe& GHeveiejs) Þeer. Heer. Jes}jemet DeefleefjJeÌle ceneveiejHeeef}JeÀe Dee³egJeÌle (ÒeJeÀuHe) [e@. Deeféeveer peesµeer DeefleefjJeÌle ceneveiejHeeef}JeÀe Dee³egJeÌle (µenj) efJeveerle - [e@. megOeeJeÀj eEµeos DeefleefjJeÌle ceneveiejHeeef}JeÀe Dee³egJeÌle (Heef½ece GHeveiejs) 775.50 Madanlal Ltd `186 cr; Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital `162 cr; Utkal Alumina International Ltd `145 cr; DLF Commercial Developers Ltd `130 cr; Jindal Steel and Power Ltd `123 cr; BG Shirke Construction Technology Pvt Ltd `119 cr; Dhariwal Infrastructure Ltd `115 cr; Avees Trading Finance Pvt Ltd `113 cr; Torrent Power Ltd `107 cr; Birla Carbon India Pvt Ltd `105 cr ewH« dma, [XZm§H 15 _mM© 2024 gH mir 11:30 dmOVm Smo_, Z°eZc ñnmoQ© g² Šc~ Am°\ B§[S `m (EZEggrAm`), dair, _w§~B© - 400 018 Reporting by Anjishnu Das, Adya Goyal, Sukhmani Malik, Shijith P Kunhitty Santiago Martin, labourer turned ‘Lottery King’ is Bond Buyer Number 1 cee. ceb$eer, JeÀewµeu³e efJeJeÀeme, GÐeespeJeÀlee Je veeefJev³elee leLee Hee}JeÀceb$eer, cegbyeF& GHeveiejs efpeune ÒecegKe heengCess 1,609.53 BRS Þeer. cebieue ÒeYeele uees{e Þeer. oerhekeÀ kesÀmejkeÀj cee. ceb$eer, µee}s³e efµe#eCe, ceje"er Yee

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