The GST Numbers of Lakshmi Medicals and Dheeraj Medicals match with the names of the people associated with Yashoda Hospital in Hyderabad.
Yashoda Hospital made significant contributions to BRS with electoral bonds worth ₹114 crore.
With thousands of crores of rupees donated by corporates and individuals to political parties in the country through electoral bonds, the data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) has spit out the names of two interesting entities — Lakshmi Medicals and Dheeraj Medicals.
The two entities donated a total of ₹22 crore to two political parties — ₹17 crore to the BRS and ₹5 crore to the Congress.
These did not appear to be corporate entities. Their Goods and Services Tax (GST) Number matched with the names of the people associated with the Yashoda Hospital in Hyderabad.
Yashoda Hospital has donated ₹162 crore through electoral bonds to the political parties. Additionally, its three directors have donated ₹1 crore each, respectively.
Lakshmi Medicals bought two electoral bonds worth ₹ 2 crore on 6 April, 2022, which were encashed by the BRS.
On 12 December, 2022, the entity — apparently a medical store — bought three bonds worth ₹3 crore, which were encashed by the Congress.
The GST details of the medical store linked it to Lakshmi Gorukanti, the director of Yashoda Pharma and Drugs Private Limited, a subsidiary of Yashoda Healthcare Services — the holding company that runs the Yashoda Hospitals in Hyderabad.
Also, the registered address of Lakshmi Medicals with the GST office is inside the Yashoda Hospital in the Somajiguda area of Hyderabad.
It should be noted that Yashoda Hospitals Managing Director Dr Gorukanti Surender Rao and another director, Gorukanti Devender Rao, also bought the electoral bonds worth ₹1 crore each on 6 April, 2022, which were encashed by the BRS.
On 7 April, 2022, Dheeraj Medicals bought 15 electoral bonds worth ₹15 crore, which were encashed by the BRS.
On 12 December, 2022 it bought two more bonds. These were worth ₹2 crore and were encashed by the Congress.
The Google Maps entry for “Yashoda Hospitals, Malakpet” shows Dheeraj Medicals in one of the images. (Screenshot)
The GST detail of Dheeraj Medicals links it to Dheeraj Kumar Gorukanti, the CEO of Yashoda Hospitals and Graviti Pharmaceuticals.
Dheeraj Kumar Gorukanti is also the director of Yashoda Healthcare Services.
Also, the registered address of the Dheeraj Medicals is inside the Yashoda Hospital at Malakpet in Hyderabad.
It should be noted that when Lakshmi Medicals bought three electoral bonds on 12 December, 2022, for the Congress party, Dheeraj Medicals also bought two electoral bonds for the party.
Yashoda Hospitals has emerged as the biggest donor via electoral bonds among healthcare institutions in the country: It contributed ₹162 crore to various political parties.
Now take into consideration the shares of Lakshmi Medicals, Dheeraj Medicals, Chairman G Ravender Rao, Managing Director Dr G Surender Rao, and another director, G Devender Rao.
In all, Yashoda Hospital and its affiliated entities and individuals have donated a total of ₹187 crore.
The Hyderabad-based hospital disbursed this sum in 12 instalments to five political parties. The transaction took place between 4 October, 2021, and October 11, 2023.
Yashoda Hospitals made significant contributions to the BRS with electoral bonds worth ₹114 crore. It also donated ₹69 crore to the Congress.
A smaller amount of ₹2 crore was donated to the BJP. Yashoda Hospitals also donated ₹1 crore each to the AAP and the YSRCP.
Yashoda Hospitals, based in Hyderabad, was raided by Income Tax (I-T) Department officials in December 2020.
It figured in the list of donors who contributed directly to BJP between 1 April, 2021, and 31 March, 2022. It may be noted that these donations were made directly to the party funds and not via electoral bonds
The BJP officially submitted the list in November 2022 to the ECI, which mandates that political parties submit details of such donations from time to time.
Yashoda Hospitals, with the address given as “Raj Bhavan Road, Somajiguda, Hyderabad”, figured against serial numbers 424 to 431 and again 433 and 436 on the list of donors to the BJP between 1 April, 2021, and 31 March, 2022. Each of the 10 donations was valued at ₹1 crore.
On 14 March, when names of the electoral bond donors were revealed, there was confusion on whether the “Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital” mentioned in the SBI’s database was the one in Hyderabad or another hospital with a similar name in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.
However, on 15 March, the Ghaziabad hospital said on its official X handle: “Similar names lead to misinformation, which is why we must clarify that Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital, Kaushambi, has never indulged in any kind of political donations to any party.”
Meanwhile, with several newspapers naming Hyderabad-based Yashoda Hospitals in Hyderabad as a donor, the hospital management has not issued any official denial.
All that the hospital’s public relations officer (PRO) circulated to the media — via WhatsApp — was an unsigned message: “Unfortunately, our hospital’s name was wrongly published in certain media. Request you to please check once again. There is another Yashoda Super Speciality at Ghaziabad (UP border) near Delhi. Often, many confuse it with ours. [sic]”
Similar names might lead to misinformation, which is why we must clarify that Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital, Kaushambi, has never indulged in any kind of political donations to any party.
— Yashoda Super Speciality Hospitals (@hospitalyashoda) March 15, 2024
Established in the 1990s, the Yashoda Group runs four hospitals at different locations in Hyderabad with an estimated capacity of 4,000 beds.
The group was considered close to the BRS government of Telangana, led by K Chandrashekar Rao.
Speculations of Yashoda Hospitals receiving undue favours during the BRS’ nearly-10-year rule in Telangana surfaced from time to time.
Highly placed sources confirmed to South First that the entity shown in the ECI list was indeed the Hyderabad-based Yashoda Hospitals. The pattern of donations via electoral bonds proved the claim.
(Edited by Arkadev Ghoshal)
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