Big SP donor now heads UP tourism body
of Rs 3.57 crore from eight contributors in amounts of more than Rs 20,000, and Sen’s contribution was the largest.
Even within the party in Lucknow, Sen is unknown, and his appointment to the tourism corporation took veterans by surprise. Those who claimed to know him seemed not to know him all that much. For example, SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said: “He is from Lucknow. He has been living in Lucknow for long and has been a very old member of the Samajwadi Party.’’
Sen also claimed to have been with the party “for years”. When asked to elaborate, he said: “I have been with (Kiranmoy) Nandaji for a long time. I was with him in his Socialist Party and when he shifted to the Samajwadi Party, I also came along with him.”
Nanda, also based in Kolkata, is the SP general secretary. At election time, he was often seen at the SP headquarters, causing party leaders to wonder about his role. It was suggested that Nanda was SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav’s pointman for the Left and Mamata Banerjee. Soon after the elections, the SP had sent Nanda to the Rajya Sabha.
Besides the Sen couple, the other big contributors to the SP in 2011-12 were Noida-based General Electoral Trust (Rs 1 crore); New Delhi-based Win Medicare Pvt Ltd (Rs 25 lakh); New Delhi-based GS Pharmabutor Pvt Ltd (Rs 25 lakh); Sanyal Enterprises, Ranaghat Nadia, West Bengal (Rs 25 lakh in three transactions); Amethi’s Gayatri Prasad Prajapati (Rs 25 lakh); and Rajesh
