Biocon founder and executive chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw took to X on Monday to clarify that she personally made donations to political parties via electoral bonds and not through her firm. This comes after reports suggested that Biocon had contributed to the Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka through electoral bonds.
Funding with white money
In her post Mazumdar-Shaw wrote, “Would like to clarify that Biocon did not make any political donation to JDS or any other party for elections. At a personal level I purchased electoral bonds which I donated to JDS & several parties. My donations were nominal on the principle of funding election campaigns with white money.”
On March 15, she engaged in a dispute on platform X after a user highlighted her donations from the list. When asked if she was prompted to donate, she responded, stating that “all parties want funding”.
According to submissions by the JD(S) to the Election Commission last year, it was revealed that Biocon Limited had made three donations to the party, amounting to a total of Rs 2.5 crore, since 2018.
Information from the Election Commission regarding electoral bonds revealed that on April 10, 2023, Shaw contributed Rs 6 crore, just a month prior to the Assembly elections in Karnataka.