The Aam Aadmi Party has demanded an expeditious probe into the donations of thousands of crores of rupees received in the form of electoral bonds by the Bharatiya Janata Party from the companies that were under investigation by various central agencies such as income tax department and the directorate of enforcement in the last few years.
Addressing media persons here today, senior AAP leader and Delhi Cabinet Minister Shri Saurabh Bharadwaj said this matter has been in the public domain for many days and after the order of the Supreme Court, all the information about how much money the Bharatiya Janata Party received from which companies through electoral bonds is also in the public domain today. And under this, the Bharatiya Janata Party has received thousands of crores of rupees. In which a large amount has been received from those companies on which some investigation was started in some way or the other, due to Income Tax, ED and other investigations, big companies have given crores of rupees to the Bharatiya Janata Party through electoral bonds.
Giving details of the electoral bonds received by the BJP from the companies, which are in the public domain, Shri Saurabh Bharadwaj said Future Gaming has given Rs 152 crore, Mega Engineering has given Rs 454 crore and this is when the Central Bureau of Investigation have been conducting investigations on their company; Haldia Energy Limited that was being investigated by Income Tax since 2020 have donated about Rs 377 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Similarly, there are names of many companies which were raided and after that they gave crores of rupees to the Bharatiya Janata Party through electoral bonds. For example, Income Tax raided Hetero Group of Company in 2019, cash was recovered, and this company also gave electoral bonds worth about Rs 60 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Shirdi Sai Electricals was raided by Income Tax in December 2023, electoral bonds were purchased in January 2024. The Income Tax Department raided Dr. Reddy in November 2023 and a few days after that in November, he also purchased electoral bonds. The Income Tax Department raided Kalpataru Projects in August 2023 and after that in October, they purchased electoral bonds, the minister added.
Shri Saurabh Bharadwaj said there are many companies like this. Talking about those companies is a general thing, but if we look at the details of the main witnesses of ED in the excise investigation, they also gave crores of rupees to the Bharatiya Janata Party. “I show you the timeline of the main accused P Sarath Chandra Reddy, son of the owner of Aurobindo Pharma, the excise policy was made in November 2021, in January 2022, Aurobindo Pharma gave electoral bonds worth Rs 3 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party, in July, Aurobindo Pharma bought electoral bonds worth Rs 1.5 crore and gave them to the Bharatiya Janata Party. This excise policy was withdrawn in July 2022, P Sarath Chandra Reddy was arrested in November, after his arrest, he bought bonds worth Rs 5 crore and electoral bonds were given to the Bharatiya Janata Party. After this, he remained in jail for several months, he got bail on 8 May 2023, he became an approver on 2 June 2023 and on 8 November 2023, his companies gave about Rs 50 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Rs 25 crore by Aurobindo Pharma and another Rs 25 crore by Eugia Pharma Specialities Limited and APL Healthcare, both wholly owned subsidiaries of Aurobindo Pharma,” said the AAP leader.
Demanding a speedy investigation in the matter, Shri Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “When this matter came into the public domain and so much investigation is going on in every way, then we told the central government then and today we are saying again through you that when the accused in this type of excise case are openly giving crores of rupees to the Bharatiya Janata Party through electoral bonds and then they are also becoming government witnesses, then when will the central government of the Bharatiya Janata Party get this investigated? This is our question to them and since they are not answering this question, we are asking this question again through the media.”