Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Chennai: Around 80 per cent of the electoral bonds that Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) received since 2019 were donated by Future Gaming and Hotel Services of controversial lottery baron Santiago Martin, with whom the Dravidian party has had an excellent rapport for decades together.
Of the Rs 656.50 crore worth of electoral bonds that the DMK received between 2019 and November 14, 2023, a whooping Rs 509 crore came from Martin, according to details shared by the Election Commission of India (ECI), in line with the Supreme Court verdict. DMK is one of the few parties that have disclosed the names of the donors of the electoral bonds.
Martin’s firms are under the scanner of investigative agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) since 2016 for alleged lottery fraud in several states.
The largest contribution of electoral bonds from Martin to the DMK of Rs 249 crore came in the 2021-2022 financial year when the party faced the crucial Assembly elections in April 2021 and urban local bodies in February 2022. The party also received its highest electoral bonds in the same fiscal at Rs 306 crore, including Rs 40 crore by MEIL, though it raised donations through electoral bonds continuously since 2019.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL), the Hyderabad-based firm which has interests in varied sectors, is the second largest contributor to the DMK in the form of electoral bonds at Rs 105 crore.
Sun Network owned by Kalanidhi Maran, grand nephew of late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, gave electoral bonds worth Rs 10 crore, India Cements of former BCCI chief N Srinivasan (Rs 14 crore), Ramco Cements (Rs 5 crore), Triveni Engineering and Industries (Rs 8 crore), IRB (Rs 2 crore), and Lakshmi Machine Works (Rs 1.5 crore).
While Salem-headquartered Triveni Engineering and Industries has interests in mining in states like Odisha, LMW functions out of Coimbatore.
Future Gaming and Hotel Services contributed Rs 60 crore in 2020-2021, Rs 160 crore (2022-2023), and Rs 40 crore (2023-till date). However, Martin’s firm didn’t sponsor any electoral bond to the DMK in 2019-2020, according to a letter written by party treasurer, T R Baalu, to the ECI on November 14, 2023, disclosing the details of the bonds it has received.
Principal Opposition party, AIADMK, grabbed the opportunity to tear into the DMK for accepting “huge donations” from a firm that is involved in selling lottery tickets and interests in “online games". “People of Tamil Nadu will teach a lesson to the DMK this election,” AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said.
Martin, who launched his lottery firm in Coimbatore in 1988 after returning from Rangoon in Myanmar, was closely associated with Karunanidhi and produced a film based on a story written by the latter in 2010. The lottery baron has been one of the biggest funders of the DMK for a long time.
Martin’s family also enjoys close ties with the DMK’s first family. His son-in-law Aadhav Arjun was associated with the party for a long time before he joined Dalit party Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) earlier this year.
Martin’s close association with DMK landed him in jail in 2011 under the then AIADMK government led by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa detaining him under the Goondas Act. As the noose tightened around the family, Martin’s wife Leema Rose joined IJK, an ally of the BJP, and shared the stage with the then Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and their son, Charles, joined the BJP in 2015.
Even while accepting donations via electoral bonds, the DMK continued to oppose the scheme with Chief Minister and party president M K Stalin welcoming the Supreme Court judgement striking down electoral bonds.
“This judgement has restored the democracy and level playing field for all political parties. It has also ensured the common man’s faith in the system,” Stalin had said on February 15.
AIADMK receives Rs 6 crore in electoral bonds
On the other side, Tamil Nadu’s principal Opposition, AIADMK, received electoral bonds worth Rs 6 crore, with a majority of them being donated by IPL team, Chennai Super Kings, owned by India Cements.
AIADMK received the entire Rs 6.05 crore in April 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and bypolls to 22 assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu. The bypolls were crucial as they ensured the continuance of the AIADMK government with the party winning 9 of the 22 seats that went to polls.
While Lakshmi Machine Works, Coimbatore contributed Rs 1 crore, Chennai Super Kings contributed nearly Rs 5 crore in April 2019. Industrialist Gopal Srinivasan of TVS Capital Funds contributed Rs 4 lakh in April 2019.
Interestingly, the AIADMK didn’t receive any electoral bonds after April 2019.