The ruling YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh encashed bonds worth ₹337 crore, the TDP cashed in bonds worth ₹218.8 crore, and the Jana Sena got ₹21 crore.
Sri Chaitanya Educational Institutions (Skoodos), Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy (Supplied).
With electoral bonds’ data now available, though it remains unclear who donated to whom, it is quite evident who purchased the bonds and how much was redeemed by the political parties.
In the case of Andhra Pradesh, interestingly, three industries — Navayuga, Shirdi Sai Electricals, and Grenco — with significant projects after the YSRCP came to power in 2019, purchased bonds totalling ₹130 crore.
Additionally, Chennai Green Woods Private Ltd, a construction company owned by the Ramky Group, led by YSRCP Rajya Sabha member Ayodhya Rami Reddy, acquired ₹105 crore worth of bonds.
Firms associated with Sri Chaitanya Educational Institutions, once targeted politically by YS Jagan over paper leaks allegedly linked to the TDP government, purchased electoral bonds totalling ₹18 crore through its associated companies: Sri Chaitanya Students Facility Management Private Limited, Chaitanya Students Facility Management, and Varsity Education Management Private Limited.
Both the ruling and opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh cashed in electoral bonds.
The ruling YSRCP encashed bonds worth ₹337 crore, accounting for around 2.5 percent of the total amount ₹12,769.01 crore.
The TDP cashed in bonds worth ₹218.8 crore, the Jana Sena Party also enchased ₹21 crore.
Shirdi Sai Electricals Limited, which was raided by the Income Tax Department in December 2023, purchased ₹40 crore worth of electoral bonds within a month — on 11 January, 2024.
Interestingly, the company secured a contract for installing smart meters in agricultural electricity connections across Andhra Pradesh in July 2023.
Established in 1994 in Kadapa, Shirdi Sai Electricals faced allegations from the TDP that it gained prominence only after the YSRCP government came to power.
The company amassed projects worth ₹1.2 lakh crore over the last four years.
Navayuga Engineering Company Private Limited, the company responsible for constructing the tunnel in Uttarkashi which collapsed in November 2023, purchased bonds worth ₹55 crore.
Income tax officials raided the offices of Navayuga Engineering Company in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam on 26 October, 2018. As per the data available, it brought ₹45-crore bonds on 18 April, 2019, and ₹10 crore bonds on 10 October, 2022.
The Navayuga Group, founded by C Visweswara Rao, was under CBI scrutiny in the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy disproportionate assets case in May 2012.
For purchasing a 65 percent stake in Vanpic (Vadarevu and Nizampatnam Port and Industrial Corridor) from the Emirate of Ras al Khaimah (RAK) Investment Authority and Matrix Enport owned by industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad, Navayuga faced accusations of involvement in money laundering and using YS Jagan’s influence for projects.
Consequently, it sold its entire stake amid the CBI probe against YS Jagan. In political circles and the media, it is claimed that since then their relations have been strained.
Following the TDP’s victory in Andhra Pradesh in 2014, Navayuga got multiple projects, including the construction of ports and the Polavaram project.
However, after the TDP lost power in 2019 and the YSRCP assumed office, Navayuga’s project allocations by the TDP were overturned. Later, Navayuga reportedly reached a truce with YS Jagan’s government.
In 2021, Navayuga sold the Krishnapatnam port project to Adani Ports, which it got in the TDP’s tenure. Shortly after this, in April of that year, Navayuga secured the Ramayapatnam port project worth ₹2,634 crore in a joint venture with Aurobindo Realty & Infrastructure.
Aurobindo Realty, a real-estate and infrastructure venture formed by the promoters of Mumbai-listed Aurobindo Pharma Ltd, purchased bonds worth ₹52 crore. The director of Aurobindo Pharma, Sarath Chandra Reddy, is an accused in the Delhi liquor scam case.
Greenko, a green energy company, purchased bonds worth ₹35 crore through 12 subsidiary companies from 12 April to 15 November 2022.
Greenko had a Kurnool green power project which was part of the TDP-approved projects during its tenure.
However, YS Jagan’s government flagged Greenko’s integrated green power project in the Kurnool district, which is the AP’s largest integrated renewable energy project.
With this, the Central government reportedly pressured the state government to honour previous government agreements.
With re-negotiations in the project by state government, Greenko has been involved in renewable energy projects.
It was on 17 May, 2022, that AP Chief Minister YS Jagan inaugurated the project laying its foundation stone.
Incidentally, a month before the inauguration, Greenko brought the first electoral bond.
The CPI(M) condemned the “forcible” land acquisition for Greenko projects in the surrounding villages, citing the non-implementation of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013 in the Kurnool project.
The Chaitanya Educational Society, founded by Dr BS Rao and Dr Jhansi Lakshmi Bai, established the Sri Chaitanya Educational Institute in 1986 in Vijayawada.
From a small institution, the Chaitanya Group now comprises over 500 colleges and 300 schools nationwide.
Chaitanya schools, for a brief time part of the Narayana Educational Institutions owned by TDP minister P Narayana, faced criticism from the YSRCP for allegedly violating fee guidelines and being involved in paper leaks.
When YS Jagan came to power, his reforms in the government education sector claimed to support the poor, allegedly unlike the TDP’s preference for private education benefitting Chaitanya and Narayana educational institutions.
Interestingly, it was not the Chaitanya Educational Society that purchased the electoral bonds directly, but the companies associated with Sushma Boppana, daughter of Rao and the CEO and academic director of Chaitanya.
Boppana Sushmasri is the director of Chaitanya Students Facility Management Private Limited, which purchased bonds worth ₹10 crore; Chaitanya Students Facility Management, which purchased bonds worth ₹6 crore; and Varsity Education Management Private Limited, which purchased bonds worth ₹2 crore.
YSRCP MP Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy, with assets worth ₹2,577 crore, is the second-richest Rajya Sabha member in the country.
The 59-year-old MP chairs the Ramky Group, which has stakes in various businesses, notably in the construction sector.
Chennai Green Woods Private Ltd, a construction company reportedly part of the Ramky Group, acquired electoral bonds worth ₹105 crore.
The Ramky Group faced I-T raids in July 2021, and the bonds purchased by Green Woods Company occurred only after this — from 5 January, 2022, to 12 October, 2023.
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