“Please Do The Math”: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw On Her Electoral Bonds Donations

Biocon Ltd Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw pointed out a calculation error by a user on the microblogging website X on how much she donated using electoral bonds.

The X user said the head of the Bengaluru-based biopharmaceuticals firm donated Rs 5 crore every month before the Karnataka elections.

Ms Mazumdar-Shaw replied to the post, “That’s incorrect. Pls do the math.”

A recheck of the total amount that Ms Mazumdar-Shaw donated via electoral bonds came to Rs 6 crore.

“It’s actually Rs 6 crore. If you believe you paid them through other modes, kindly specify those as well,” Arman Ahmad, another user on the microblogging platform, said.

“I am always transparent n what you see is what is correct,” Ms Mazumdar-Shaw replied to Mr Ahmad.

I am always transparent n what you see is what is correct.

— Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (@kiranshaw) March 15, 2024

On whether she was “asked” to donate, the Biocon chief said, “All parties want funding.”

The Election Commission yesterday published a list detailing buyers of electoral bonds, which account for the lion’s share of political donations in the country. The Supreme Court ruled them illegal last month, saying the scheme violated the right of voters to know who was financing their representatives.

Around 11 per cent of the bonds issued between April 2019 and January 2024 was bought by a firm led by Santiago Martin, who is also known as the “Lottery King”. The data shows that his Future Gaming and Hotel Services was the single-biggest buyer of electoral bonds for the period.

The electoral bonds data, however, does not map electoral bond buyers to recipients, leaving it unclear which individual and corporate donors were funding which parties.