'BJP accounts for over half of total income declared by 8 nat'l parties'

NEW DELHI: Eight recognised national parties have declared a total income of Rs 3289.34 crore collected from all over India in the financial year 2021-22, with the BJP accounting for more than half of it, according to a prominent NGO working for electoral reforms.

The Trinamool Congress declared the second highest income of Rs 545.745 crore, which forms 16.59 per cent of the total income of the eight national parties, the Association for Democratic Reforms said on Wednesday, citing documents shared by parties with the Election Commission.

The BJP declared a total income of Rs 1917.12 crore during 2021-22 and spent Rs 854.467 crore or 44.57 per cent of it. The Congress' total income was Rs 541.275 crore, while it spent Rs 400.414 crore or 73.98 per cent of its income.

The eight parties given national status by the Election Commission include Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M), All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and National People's Party (NPEP).

The TMC spent Rs 268.337 crore which was 49.17 per cent of its total income, the ADR said.

Four out of the eight national parties - BJP, TMC, Congress and NCP - collected 55.09 per cent or Rs 1811.9425 crore of their total income from donations through electoral bonds for FY 2021-22.

The BJP received donations through electoral bonds worth Rs 1033.70 crore, TMC Rs 528.143 crore, Congress Rs 236.0995 crore and NCP Rs 14 crore.

According to the data shared by SBI in response to ADR'sI application, electoral bonds worth Rs 2673.0525 crore were redeemed by parties in FY 2021-22 of which 67.79 per cent of this has been redeemed by national parties.

"Given the anonymity provided to donors by the scheme, it is seen that electoral bonds emerged as the most popular mode of donations to national political parties for FY 2020-21 as well," the ADR said.

Between FY 2020-21 and 2021-22, the income of BJP increased by 154.82 per cent or Rs 1164.783 crore from Rs 752.337 crore in FY 2020-21 to Rs 1917.12 crore in 2021-22.

The income of TMC increased by 633.36 per cent (Rs 471.328 crore) from Rs 74.417 crore during FY 2020-21 to Rs 545.745 crore during FY 2021-22.

The Congress' income increased by 89.41 per cent or Rs 255.51 crore from Rs 285.765 crore during FY 2020-21 to Rs 541.275 crore during FY 2021-22, it said.

National parties that received the highest income from donations or contributions include BJP - Rs 1775.43 crore, TMC - Rs 582.523 crore, Congress Rs 347.996 crore, NCP Rs 71.956 crore, CPI(M) Rs 65.878 crore, and NPEP Rs 43 lakh.

The due date for submission of annual audited accounts for the parties to the EC was October 31, 2022.

"Only BSP and NPEP submitted their audit reports on time while NCP, AITC, CPI(M), CPI, BJP, INC and submitted after a delay of 2 days, 2 days, 3 days, 21 days, 53 days and 55 days respectively," it said.