The Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, witnessed a massive surge in declared donations during the 2024-25 financial year. The party's financial report submitted to the Election Commission reveals a collection of Rs 184.96 crore from 448 donors. This marks an almost three-fold increase from the Rs 64.24 crore it declared in the previous fiscal year.
Who Are The Major Contributors?
The list of top donors paints a picture of diverse funding sources for the ruling party of West Bengal. Leading the pack is the Delhi-based Prudent Electoral Trust, which contributed a whopping Rs 92 crore. In second place is Tiger Associates with Rs 50 crore. The company describes itself as the area distributor in West Bengal for Nagaland, Sikkim, and Punjab State Lotteries.
Other significant corporate donors include the Mumbai-based Progressive Electoral Trust, largely funded by Tata Group companies, which donated Rs 10 crore. The iron, steel, and cement conglomerate Rashmi Cement Ltd, with a corporate office in Kolkata and factories in Kharagpur and Jhargram, gave Rs 5 crore.
The roster of companies with manufacturing units in West Bengal that made substantial donations is notable. These include Shyam Ferro Alloys Ltd (Rs 3 crore), Kejriwal Mining (Rs 3 crore), Super Smelters (Rs 2 crore), and IVL Dhanseri Petrochem Industries (Rs 2 crore). The highest individual donor was finance professional Kishan Gopal Mohta, who contributed Rs 3 crore.
Electoral Bonds Legacy and Internal Party Funding
This surge in declared donations comes in the first financial year after the Supreme Court scrapped the electoral bonds scheme. Data released in 2024 had shown that between April 2019 and January 2024, the TMC had redeemed electoral bonds worth Rs 1,609 crore, the second-highest amount after the BJP. In the 2023-24 financial year alone, the party received about Rs 612 crore from electoral bonds.
Reacting to the figures, TMC spokesperson Jay Prakash Majumdar stated, "The BJP is the richest party in India, if not in the world, so of course they have declared such a high amount. The Central government also helps corporate groups, so naturally, they will help the BJP. We declared whatever we got from different organisations."
In a show of internal support, a vast majority of the party's own legislators also contributed to the fund. 199 out of 213 TMC MLAs made donations ranging from Rs 22,000 to Rs 30,000. This group included senior ministers like Bratya Basu, Babul Supriyo, Aroop Biswas, Chandrima Bhattacharya, and Firhad Hakim. Forty MPs and former MPs also donated, with Kolkata Dakshin MP Mala Roy contributing Rs 6.12 lakh and Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra donating Rs 1 lakh.
A New Transparency Paradigm?
The detailed contribution report for 2024-25 offers a clearer, though incomplete, window into political funding in the post-electoral bonds era. The tripling of the TMC's declared donations highlights a significant shift in how parties are now reporting their finances to the Election Commission. The prominence of electoral trusts and companies with direct business interests in West Bengal underscores the continuing links between economic activity and political funding in the state. As the political landscape gears up for future elections, the scrutiny of these declared donations is likely to intensify, making transparency a key battleground.
