Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Limited (MEIL), the biggest donor of electoral bonds to BJP, also topped the list of donors to Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), according to data released Thursday by the Election Commission. The Telangana-based infrastructure giant, which in 2016 won contracts worth over Rs 1 lakh crore for constructing several phases of the massive Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, donated Rs 195 crore to the party led by former CM K Chandrashekar Rao. It bought these bonds in five tranches between October 2021 and July 2023. The BRS was in power in Telangana from June 2, 2014 to December, 2023. MEIL’s donation to the BJP stood at Rs 584 crore, the EC data showed. Overall, since April 12, 2019, the BRS redeemed bonds worth Rs 1,383 crore, ranking fourth after BJP (Rs 6,060 crore), TMC (Rs 1,610 crore) and Congress (Rs 1,422 crore). Of this, the BRS redeemed bonds worth Rs 192.6 crore between October 11, 2018 and April 10, 2019. And the rest (Rs 1191.15 crore) from May 2019 to December 2023. For electoral bonds worth Rs 23.55 crore, the EC data showed no purchaser details, meaning these were purchased before April 12, 2019. Apart from MEIL, the BRS’s top 10 donors included four other infrastructure companies and three healthcare and pharmaceutical firms. Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital gave Rs 94 crores to BRS, all when the party was in power in the state. In April 2023, Congress leader Revanth Reddy who’s now the state Chief Minister alleged that KCR’s relatives, “who manage Yashoda Hospitals”, had obtained land worth crores at “dirt cheap prices”. Construction firm Chennai Greenwoods Private Limited and pharma company Hetero Drugs and Labs donated Rs 50 crore each to BRS.
