DMK counters attack over 'lottery king' donor, says no concession for donation

With the rival AIADMK mounting an offensive over the electoral bonds issues, the DMK led by Chief Minister MK Stalin in Tamil Nadu has said that it had revealed the names of donors with complete transparency and emphasised that their government didn’t give any concession in exchange for donation.

The DMK came out with the clarification a day after the data released by the Election Commission of India disclosed that Future Gaming and Hotel Services, the top donor through electoral bonds, gave Rs 509 crore to DMK. Future Gaming's owner Santiago Martin, also known as “lottery king”, has been under the ED radar.

As soon as the disclosure was made, AIADMK came down heavily on the ruling DMK. Leader of Opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami cited the DMK government's law against online gaming. “The state government enacted a namesake, weak law banning online gambling and shamefully received cash from a gambling company that pledges people’s lives,” he said.

DMK denies charges

Rejecting the allegations, DMK MP TR Baalu said the Stalin government has enacted the law against online gaming after a long struggle and no concession was extended to the gaming company. “It was the governor who delayed assent to the law, and the government got it re-enacted. It was the governor who met owners of online gaming companies,” he alleged.

The then AIADMK regime had brought a law to ban online gambling in 2021. However, the Madras High Court later struck down this legislation. The Stalin government constituted a committee headed by a retired high court judge to look into online gaming after the DMK came to power in 2022. Following the panel’s recommendation, a fresh bill was tabled and passed in the assembly. The governor too gave his assent after some delay. The law was challenged in Madras High Court which refused to strike it down, but said the law will not apply to games of skill such as rummy.

Baalu also resorted to a counterattack and hit out at Palaniswami over his silence on what he dubbed “BJP's extortion”. “Fourteen of the 30 companies intimidated by the Enforcement Directorate have donated large sums to the BJP. Does EPS have the spine to condemn it?” he wondered. The AIADMK and the BJP parted ways last year, but the DMK has called this snapping of ties a “drama”.

BJP under fire

Meanwhile, allegations and counter-allegations are flying thick and fast in Tamil Nadu ever since the poll panel came out with the data related to the electoral bonds.

DMK chief MK Stalin has said the electoral bonds facilitated the BJP’s “white collar corruption”. Congress leader P Chidambaram has said “ill-gotten money did not go to the ED and government coffers as claimed, but to the BJP by extortion”. On the other hand, state BJP chief K Annamalai said, “The BJP is in power in 18 states. Going by pro rata, this is less compared to what DMK - only ruling Tamil Nadu - has received.”