The ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Jana Sena Party (JSP) in Andhra Pradesh, which are in alliance with the BJP in the state and at the Centre, got a bulk of their funds in 2024-25 from pharmaceutical, solar and real estate companies besides several individual donors.
As per the contribution report submitted to the EC by the TDP, led by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, the party bagged a total of Rs 83.03 crore as donations for 2024-25 — a dip of Rs 17.15 crore as compared to 2023-24, when the party had received a total of Rs 100.18 crore as contributions.
The JSP, led by Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, got Rs 25.33 crore during 2024-25, the party’s report submitted to the EC reveals. Since June 2024, the coalition of the TDP, JSP and BJP are in power in Andhra Pradesh after it clinched the Assembly elections. The NDA alliance also swept the simultaneous Lok Sabha polls in the state.
For the year 2024-25, the TDP got Rs 7 crore from NATCO Pharma company, Hyderabad and Rs 5 crore from Varsity Education Management, Bengaluru. Christy Friedgram Industry Private Ltd, Tamil Nadu donated Rs 2 crore to the TDP, while United Tele Links, Bengaluru contributed Rs 2 crore to it. Priya Acqua Farms from Prakasam district donated Rs 2 crore to the party.
Several solar power firms made significant contributions to the TDP, which included Rs 43.80 lakh from Neemuch Solar Power Private Ltd (Delhi) and Rs 59.90 lakh from Heremba Renewables Ltd. The Chandrababu Naidu-led government has been making efforts to push for renewable energy in the state.
The TDP got Rs 57.80 lakh from Renew Ranga Reddy Solar Power Private Ltd, Rs 29.10 lakh from Renew Solar Energy (Jharkhand Five) Private Ltd and Rs 43.20 lakh from Renew Wind Energy (Rajasthan One). The party also received Rs 52.50 lakh from Shreyas Solar Farms Ltd, and Rs 30.60 lakh from Akhilagya Solar Energy Private Ltd. Century Plyboards (India) Ltd donated Rs 50 lakhs to the party.
The highest contribution to the TDP came from Prudent Electoral Trust, which donated Rs 40 crore to the party. Apart from Prudent, the TDP also received contributions from two other electoral trusts — A B General trust, which donated Rs 5 crore to the party, and Triumph trust, which contributed Rs 4 crore to it.
There were also two major individual donors for the TDP — Sharat Babu Bollineni and Krishna Mohan Bollineni, who contributed Rs 2 crore each to the party.
“For every paisa we get, we are accountable to the donors. Every paisa we get returns to the grassroots workers of our party. For example, we have a healthcare scheme to which we contribute Rs 38 crore — all this comes from donations,” state TDP president Palla Srinivasa Rao told The Indian Express.
The JSP got a contribution of Rs 1 crore from NATCO Pharma company, while RVM Constructions India, Kukatpally, Hyderabad and DVK Constructions donated Rs 3 crore and Rs 2 crore to the party, respectively.
The party’s biggest contribution came from an individual donor, Ravikumar Akula of Shadnagar, Hyderabad, who donated Rs 5 crore to the party. Another individual donor Uddaraju Sri Rama Lakshmipathi Bhoga Raju contributed Rs 1 crore to the party.
The JSP received Rs 1.5 crore from Sainath ADS, Vijayawada and Rs 1 crore from Miracle software systems.
The party, however, did not get any significant contributions from any electoral trusts.
On the JSP’s contribution report, the party’s spokesman Ajaya Kumar Vemulapati told The Indian Express: “We thank all those who contributed to the party. But we especially thank those who donated Rs 10 to Rs 20, from their daily earnings. We thank pensioners who donated their pension and our grassroot workers who continue to contribute to the party every month.”
Top donors of TDP, JSP
TDP
- Prudent Electoral Trust — Rs 40 cr
- NATCO Pharma Ltd – Rs 7 cr
- Varsity Education Management – Rs 5 cr
- Christy Friedgram Industry Private Ltd; United Tele Links Bangalore Ltd; Priya Acqua Farms — Rs 2 cr each
- Sharat Babu Bollineni; Krishna Mohan Bollineni — Rs 2 cr each
JSP
- Ravikumar Akula, Shadnagar, Hyderabad – Rs 5 cr
- RVM Constructions India, Kukatpally, Hyderabad- Rs 3 cr
- DVK Constructions – Rs 2 cr
- Sainath ADS, Vijayawada – 1.5 cr
- Miracle software systems, Visakhapatnam; Uddaraju Sri Rama Lakshmipathi Bhoga Raju – Rs 1 cr each
(From electoral trusts to companies and individuals, in a series of articles The Indian Express examines the funding sources of political parties as mentioned in their contribution reports submitted to the Election Commission (EC). These reports are for 2024-25, the first year after the Supreme Court scrapped the government’s electoral bonds scheme.)