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Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited, a little-known company with registered address at Navi Mumbai's Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) and having links to Reliance Industries, was the third largest donor to political parties using electoral bonds. It bought Rs 410 crore of electoral bonds between financial years 2021-22 and 2023-24 but Reliance said the company is not a subsidiary of any Reliance entity. Electoral bond purchases and donations by Qwik Supply were behind Rs 1,368 crore of Future Gaming and Hotel Services - another little-known lottery company - and Rs 966 crore of Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering & Infra, according to information uploaded by the Election Commission on its website. Publicly available information describes Qwik Supply as a manufacturer of warehouses and storage units. The unlisted private company was incorporated on November 9, 2000 with an authorised share capital of Rs 130.99 crore. Its paid-up capital is Rs 129.99 crore. The firm had a revenue of over Rs 500 crore in 2022-23 (April 2022 to March 2023) but profit numbers were not known. It bought electoral bonds worth Rs 360 crore in 2021-22 to give away to political parties. In the same year, its net profit was only Rs 21.72 crores. It bought another Rs 50 crore worth of bonds in the financial year 2023-24. The company has three directors and one reported key management personnel. The longest serving director currently on board is Tapas Mitra - who incidentally also sits on the board of 25 other companies - was appointed on November 17, 2014. Mitra is a director of partnership firms such as Reliance Eros Productions LLP and companies like Jamnagar Kandla Pipeline Company Private Limited. Jamnagar Kandla Pipeline is registered in Ahmedabad at an address shared by some other Reliance companies, such as Reliance Paging Private Limited, Jamnagar Ratlam Pipeline Private Limited, Reliance Tankages Private Limited and Reliance Oil and Petroleum Private Limited. Vipul Pranlal Mehta has been a director on the board of Qwik since December 10, 2019. He is also a director of eight other companies including one called Rel Icons and Traders Private Limited. Sridhar Titti is the most recently appointed director, joining the board on November 27, 2023. A Reliance Industries spokesperson in response to a detailed questionnaire, said: "Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd is not a subsidiary of any Reliance entity." Nexg Devices Pvt Ltd, a firm linked to Surender Lunia, purchased Rs 35 crore worth of electoral bonds in May 2019 and November 2022. Another firm linked to him, Infotel Business Solutions bought electoral bonds worth Rs 15 crore in May 2019. He was the one who sold a 29.18 per cent stake in NDTV held by Reliance-linked firms to the Adani Group.

The Election Commission will announce the schedule for General Elections and state assemblies at 3 pm tomorrow, i.e., March 16. Announcement will be livestreamed on social media platforms of the ECI, it said on Friday.With elections slated to take place some time around April-May 2024, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party is looking to come back to power for the third consecutive term, having bagged the majority in 2014 and 2019. Campaigning for the upcoming polls are already underway, with the BJP confidently claiming that the party would clinch over 400 seats in the 543-seats strong Lok Sabha.In 2019, the BJP managed to corner 37.36 per cent of the votes, effectively achieving the highest vote share by any political party in India since the 1989 general election. BJP alone won 303 seats, with the tally going up to 353 seats for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Rahul Gandhi-led Indian National Congress secured 52 seats, with the tally inching up to 98 for the party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).The Election Commission had announced that nearly 97 crore Indians will be eligible to vote in this year's Lok Sabha elections, reflecting a 6 per cent increase in registered voters since 2019. The electoral rolls were published in all States/UTs across the country in early February after an intensive Special Summary Revision 2024 process.EC has been working over the last few months, preparing for the election process. Meanwhile, systematic checks are being conducted across states towards election readiness. It is estimated that the total number of polling stations will increase from 10.36 lakh in 2019 to 11.8 lakh in 2024. The number of voters is also expected to rise from 90 crore in 2019 to above 95 crore. Both factors will impact security considerations. The phasing of elections will also depend on the same. The 2019 poll was held in seven phases against the nine phases of 2014.Efforts are also underway to explore the feasibility of conducting simultaneous elections across the country. A High-Level Committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind recently submitted recommendations of the panel to Prsident Droupadi Murmu. The 'One Nation One Election' team also held consultations with former Chief Justices Deepak Mishra and SA Bobde.Several states, including Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh, are preparing to hold simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls in the coming months.