West Bengal: Allegations Of Dear Lottery Linked With TMC Spell Trouble?

In West Bengal, even as alleged corruption has been reported in recruitment, and the School Service Commission has not been held for quite some time now, youths operating lottery kiosks have mushroomed across the state over the years and the results are immediate and disheartening for thousands of jobless youths, who spend their hard-earned money to buy cheap lottery tickets.

Dear Lottery is the most favoured lottery. The Future Gaming and Hotel Services distributes it. The group has emerged as the top buyer of electoral bonds, donating nearly ₹ 1,368 crore to political parties between April 2019 and January 2024. Also, according to information shared by the EC, Trinamool is the second largest recipient of poll bonds totalling ₹ 1,609 crore.

Allegations By Congress Against TMC

West Bengal's Congress veteran Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury who is famous for his caustic remarks against TMC recently alleged, The Trinamool's coffers have been filled with money by individuals engaged in immoral acts of fraud. The general populace remains unaware of their clandestine operations, allowing these fraudulent activities to persist unchecked. The influx of funds into a regional party has far surpassed that of the centuryold Congress.

Lottery Links To Trinamool Congress

It raises questions about the sources and motives behind these significant contributions. The amount in the form of electoral bond as specified by the EC to TMC is also mind-boggling as the party (TMC) despite several attempts has failed to achieve the tag of a national party status despite its foray in states like Tripura, Meghalaya and Goa during the respective Assembly elections. Reportedly, at least three significant jackpot winners of Dear Lottery had links with TMC.

Anubrata Mondal, TMC strongman in Birbhum, who is currently under arrest, won ₹ 1 crore in December 2021. According to a CBI chargesheet, between 2019 and 2021, Anubrata and his daughter won the lottery four times. In August 2022, Ruchika Gupta, wife of Jorasanko MLA Vivek Gupta, struck a jackpot of ₹ 1 crore in a weekly lottery organised by Future Gaming & Hotel Services Pvt Ltd In July 2022, Neru Singh, the sisterin-law of TMC’s Nalhati MLA Rajendra Prasad Singh, also claimed a 1 Kerala set for crore prize.