Guntur MP Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar donated Rs 31 crore to his own party, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), as per the party’s contribution report 2023-24 submitted to the Election Commission of India. The MP, who also represents the TDP, made donations in six instalments between May 2023 and February 2024 in the lead-up to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, both of which concluded in June 2024. TDP received Rs 100.18 crore in donations and through trusts for 2023-24.
Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar is also the founder and CEO of UWorld, an online learning service that helps students prepare for the United States Medical Licensing Exam and other similar tests. He is among the richest Parliamentarians with assets worth Rs 5,706 crore. After winning the MP seat for the first time in 2024, he became the Minister of State for Communications in the third Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. The donations were made in four instalments of Rs 5 crore, one instalment of Rs 10 crore, and one instalment of Rs one crore.
The contribution report also notes that his brother, Ravi Shankar Pemmasani, also the CFO of UWorld, donated Rs 16.50 crore to the TDP in three installments between June 2023 and January 2024.
Prudent Electoral Trust, the richest electoral trust in India, gave Rs 33 crore for the TDP. Additionally, Chennai-based Baashyam Constructions Private Limited donated Rs 10 crore to the TDP while Kancharla Sudhakar, brother of TDP MLC Kancharla Srikanth donated Rs 1 crore in the months leading up to the Lok Sabha 2024 elections. Sudhakar had also contributed Rs 5 crore to the TDP through electoral bonds in April 2023.
In comparison to the contribution report from 2022–23, TDP’s total contributions increased from Rs 11.92 crore to Rs 100.18 crore in 2023-24. Other Telugu parties like the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) received Rs 580 crore and Rs 184 crore from trusts and electoral bonds, respectively.