“Future gaming gave highest to DMK, party of your INDI alliance”: BJP replies to Sanjay Raut

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 18 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pravin Darekar on Monday replied to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut over the Electoral Bonds data and said that a gaming company has given more to Tamil nadu ruling DMK, which is a part of the INDIA bloc.

In a post on X, Sanjay Raut had said “On February 28, written a letter to Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis and informed him about the online lottery gambling game going on in Maharashtra. Many young children are ruined in this online lottery gambling den and many families have been destroyed. This gambling is supported by the government, as the police and ministry are getting huge installments. Action is demanded. How will Fadnavis take action?” he said.

“This gambling company (future gaming. Martin lottery agency Ltd.) has donated 450 crores to BJP. So this is the Indian gambling party?” Raut asked.

Responding to it, Maharashtra BJP leader Pravin Darekar said DMK itself announced that it has received bonds from Future Gaming.

“Future Gaming gave the highest 37 per cent i.e., Rs 509 crore to the DMK, a constituent party of your Indy Alliance. This was also announced by DMK itself. Of course, how will it look to those paying the target of 100 crore recovery every month?” he said on X.

Lottery king Santiago Martin’s Future Gaming was the biggest purchaser of electoral bonds at Rs 1,368 crore, of which nearly 37 per cent went to the DMK, the Election Commission data showed.

The company donated Rs 509 crore to Tamil Nadu’s ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), through the electoral bonds. Other major donors to the MK Stalin-led DMK included Megha Engineering Rs 105 crore, India Cements Rs 14 crore and Sun TV Rs 100 crore.

The Election Commission on Sunday released data received from political parties on electoral bonds, which it had given to the Supreme Court in sealed covers.

As per the data, the BJP received the maximum funds through these bonds at Rs 6,986.5 crore since they were introduced in 2018, followed by West Bengal’s ruling party Trinamool Congress (Rs 1,397 crore), Congress (Rs 1,334 crore) and BRS (Rs 1,322 crore).