Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the Executive Chairperson of Biocon Ltd, has clarified that her Bengaluru-based biopharmaceuticals firm did not make any donations to political parties using electoral bonds. However, she acknowledged purchasing electoral bonds at a personal level to donate to several parties, including the former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular).
In a post on X, Mazumdar-Shaw stated, “Would like to clarify that Biocon did not make any political donation to JDS or any other party for elections. At a personal level, I purchased electoral bonds which I donated to JDS & several parties. My donations were nominal on the principle of funding election campaigns with white money.”
Her clarification came days after she corrected a user on X who claimed that she had donated ₹5 crore every month before the Karnataka Assembly elections held last year. Mazumdar-Shaw pointed out the calculation error, stating, “That’s incorrect. Pls do the math.”
Upon further scrutiny, it was revealed that the total amount Mazumdar-Shaw donated via electoral bonds amounted to ₹6 crore. When another user inquired about potential additional donation modes, she firmly stated, “I am always transparent and what you see is what is correct.”
The issue of electoral bond donations has been a subject of debate, with the Election Commission data released on Sunday revealing that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received the maximum funds through this channel at ₹6,986.5 crore since the bonds were introduced in 2018.
The BJP was followed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee‘s Trinamool Congress ( ₹1,397 crore), Congress ( ₹1,334 crore), and former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi ( ₹1,322 crore).
Odisha’s ruling party, Biju Janata Dal, was the fourth-largest recipient at ₹944.5 crore, while the DMK received bonds worth ₹656.5 crore, and Andhra Pradesh’s YSR Congress redeemed bonds worth nearly ₹442.8 crore. The JD(S), to which Mazumdar-Shaw donated, received bonds worth ₹89.75 crore.
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Published: 18 Mar 2024, 12:28 PM IST