According to analysis of income and expenditure of national political parties for FY 2018-19 by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), BJP declared a total income of Rs 2,410.08 crore but spent only 41.71 per cent (Rs 1,005.33 crore) of the total income.
While the Congress total income was Rs 918.03 crore of which the party spent 51.19 per cent (Rs 469.92 crore).
Six national parties (BJP, Congress, CPM, BSP, Trinamool and CPI) have declared a total income of Rs 3,698.66 cr, collected from all over India.
Congress declared the second highest income of Rs 918.03 crore which forms 24.82 per cent of the total income of the six national parties.
As per the ADR analysis, between FY 2017-18 and 2018-19, the income of BJP increased by 134.59 per cent (Rs 1,382.74 crore) from Rs 1,027.34 crore during FY 2017-18 to Rs 2,410.08 crore during FY 2018-19.
Voluntary contributions of Rs 2,354.02 crore declared by the BJP form 97.67 per cent of its total income during FY 2018-19. Declaration of Rs 551.55 crore under grant/ donations/ contributions by Congress forms the top most income of the party, contributing 60.08 per cent of its total income during FY 2018-19.
The maximum expenditure for BJP has been towards election/general propaganda which amounted to Rs 792.39 crore followed by expenses towards administrative costs at Rs 178.35 crore.
Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Bahujan Samaj Party submitted their audit reports on time while BJP submitted after 24 days, Congress and CPI submitted after 42 days, while the audit report of Nationalist Congress Party is still not available in public domain 76 days since the due date for submission.
Trinamool's total income was Rs 192.65 crore of which the party spent only 5.97 per cent (Rs 11.50 crore) while CPI-M declared a total income of Rs 100.96 crore during FY 2018-19, and spent Rs 76.15 crore (75.43 per cent).
The income of Congress increased by 360.97 per cent (Rs 718.88 crore) from Rs 199.15 crore during FY 2017-18 to Rs 918.03 crore during FY 2018-19.
Between FY 2017-18 and 2018-19, the highest increase in income was declared by Trinamool of 3,628.47 per cent (Rs 187.48 crore) from Rs 5.167 crore during FY 2017-18.
According to the ADR analysis, national parties have declared donations/contributions as one of their 3 main sources of income. National Parties that received highest income from donations/contributions include BJP - Rs 2,354.02 crore, Congress - Rs 551.55 crore, Trinamool - Rs 141.54 crore, CPM - Rs 37.228 crore and CPI - Rs 4.08 crore.
The declaration of Rs 551.55 crore under Grant/ donations/ contributions by Congress forms the top most income of the party, contributing 60.08 per cent of its total income during FY 2018-19.
In its observations, the ADR said that some of the national parties have expressed great concern and have been highly critical of the Electoral Bonds Scheme, 2018. They criticized the scheme at every public debate possible and one National Party has even filed a PIL against the Electoral Bonds Scheme, 2018. However, it is ironic that these same parties continue to accept donations via Electoral Bonds, it said.
Given the anonymity provided to donors by the scheme, it is seen that Electoral Bonds have emerged as the most popular mode of donations to National Political parties for FY 2018-19. More than 52 per cent of the total income of six National Parties came from Donations through Electoral Bonds (Rs 1,931.43 crore), wherein identity of the donors are not disclosed to the public.
Of the Regional parties that have submitted their audit reports, only five Regional Parties (Biju Janata Dal, Telangana Rashtriya Samiti, YSR-Congress, Janata Dal-Secular & SDF) have declared receiving donations through Electoral Bonds worth Rs 490.59 cr.
As per the data shared by SBI in response to ADR's RTI application, Electoral Bonds worth Rs 2,539.58 crore were redeemed by parties in FY 2018-19. Of this, 76 per cent was received by six National Parties. The total amount of Electoral Bonds declared by National and Regional parties for FY 2018-19 so far is Rs 2,422.02 crore.
( With inputs from IANS )