Six registered unrecognised political parties (RUPPs) in Gujarat reported total donations running into hundreds of crores of rupees over five financial years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, according to data compiled by the independent election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on the parties’ income, expenditure, donations and electoral performance.

Over the past month, Gujarat Police have registered four FIRs against such parties for allegedly receiving massive funds, routing them back to donors in cash via shell entities, and charging a 2% to 10% commission to facilitate tax evasion.

According to ADR’s compilation, Bharatiya Rashtriya Janata Dal reported total donations of Rs 0.36 crore in 2020-21, Rs 189 crore in 2021-22, Rs 576.5 crore in 2022-23, Rs 191.6 crore in 2023-24 and Rs 198.8 crore in 2024-25. Its reported donations over the five years totalled Rs 1,156.1 crore.

New India United Party reported total donations of Rs 407.5 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 291.6 crore in 2024-25. Its total donation figures for 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2023-24 were unavailable in the compiled data. The party’s reported cumulative total was Rs 699.1 crore.
 

Swatantra Abhivyakti Party reported nil donations in 2020-21, Rs 75.9 crore in 2021-22 and Rs 395.4 crore in 2022-23. Its total donation figures for 2023-24 and 2024-25 were unavailable. The cumulative figure reported in the document was Rs 75.9 crore.

Satyavadi Rakshak Party reported total donations of nil in 2021-22, Rs 85.7 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 330.6 crore in 2023-24. Figures for 2020-21 and 2024-25 were unavailable. Its reported cumulative total was Rs 416.2 crore.

Saurashtra Janata Paksh reported zero donations in 2020-21, Rs 131.3 crore in 2021-22, Rs 53.3 crore in 2022-23, Rs 15.9 crore in 2023-24 and Rs 10.8 crore in 2024-25. Its cumulative total was reported at Rs 211.2 crore.
 

Jan Man Party reported total donations of Rs 97.1 crore in 2021-22, Rs 35.3 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 1.2 crore in 2023-24. Its figures for 2020-21 and 2024-25 were unavailable. The document reported its cumulative total at Rs 133.6 crore.

The electoral records listed alongside the financial disclosures show that the six parties did not win any seats in Lok Sabha and assembly elections of various states.

Shelly Mahajan, research manager at ADR, said that it has been observed that in earlier reports too, unrecognised political parties have received a large number of donations. “The FIRs are a welcome development, but there is still no clarity on the delisting aspect. Authorities have not specified for how long such entities will remain delisted,” she said.