CHENNAI: A Kolkata-based lottery firm donated `260 crore to the DMK and the AIADMK in 2025-26, more than double its contributions to the parties the previous financial year, according to the disclosures submitted to the Election Commission (EC).
The firm accounted for nearly 74% of the combined contributions of `352.55 crore reported by the two parties in 2025-26, highlighting the extent to which their political funding was concentrated in the hands of a single donor.
Tiger Associates’ combined donations to the two parties rose from `110 crore in 2024-25 to `260 crore in 2025-26.
Of the `260 crore Tiger Associates donated in 2025-26, `135 crore went to the AIADMK in six transfers and `125 crore to the DMK in 14 instalments.
Tiger Associates’ donation to the AIADMK made up 83.7% of the total contributions of `161.36 crore reported in 2025-26. Its `125-crore contribution accounted for 65.4% of the DMK’s reported total contributions of `191.19 crore.
Tiger Associates donated Rs 60 cr to AIADMK in 2024-25
The firm’s designated partner, Subbayan Nagarajan, is known to be a long-time associate of lottery businessman Santiago Martin. Corporate records also list the two as partners in another firm. Tiger Associates itself, however, has no business operations in TN.
Martin’s firm, Future Gaming and Hotel Services, had donated Rs 509 crore to the DMK through electoral bonds before the Supreme Court struck down the scheme in February 2024.
Future Gaming and Tiger Associates are separate entities. In 2024-25, Tiger Associates donated Rs 60 crore to the AIADMK, accounting for 90.5% of the party’s total contributions of Rs 66.31 crore. Its Rs 50-crore donation to the DMK represented around 13.7% of the party’s contributions of Rs 365.82 crore that year.