Bharatiya Janata Party
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(BJP) accounted for 65.16 per cent of the total income generated by six national parties at Rs 2,410.08 crore in FY19. The saffron party was followed by Congress, Trinamool Congress, CPM and BSP. Of the total income generated during FY19, the BJP spent 47.71 per cent or Rs 1,005.33 crore. The Congress generated income worth Rs 993 crore and spent around 51.19 (Rs 469.92 crore) per cent of it.
In an analysis of income and expenditure of national political parties for FY 2018-19, ADR (Association for Democratic Reforms), a non-governmental organisation that works in the area of electoral and political reforms, said the national parties that declared their income for the year included Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC).
Barring Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), all these parties have submitted details of their audited reports to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Also read: Richest electoral trust donated 85% of its total income to BJP
AITC's total income was Rs 192.65 crore, of which only 5.97 per cent (Rs 11.50 crore) was spent, says the report. CPM declared a total income of Rs 100.96 crore and spent Rs 76.15 crore, almost 75.43 per cent of it. Collectively, all six national parties declared a total income of Rs 3,698.66 crore for the year.
Among all the parties, Trinamool's income spiked 3,628.47 per cent (Rs 187.48 crore) from Rs 5.167 crore in FY18 to Rs 192.65 crore in FY19.
The BJP's income increased 134.59 per cent (Rs 1,382.74 crore) from Rs 1,027.34 crore during FY18 to Rs 2,410.08 crore in FY19. The grand-old party, INC's income saw 360.97 per cent jump (Rs 718.88 crore) from Rs 199.15 crore in FY18 to Rs 918.03 crore in FY19.
Also read: BJP declares income of Rs 1,027 crore during 2017-18: Report
The only party, whose income saw a decline, was CPM. The party's fortunes declined 3.71 per cent (Rs 3.887 crore) from Rs 104.847 crore during FY18 to Rs 100.96 crore in FY19.
The top three sources of income of these national parties are donations, voluntary contributions, and bank interest. The BJP earned Rs 2,354.02 crore (around 97.67 per cent of the total income) from donations; INC Rs 551.55 crore; AITC Rs 141.54 crore; CPM Rs 37.228 cr; and CPI Rs 4.08 crore.
As per the ECI's report last year, the BJP raised Rs 800 crore ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in May alone. Around 55.5 per cent (Rs 356 crore) of its total donation amount came from Tata group's Progressive Electoral Trust. The Congress party, on the other hand, was far behind and raised Rs 146 crore. The second-biggest donor to both the BJP and the Congress was Prudent Electoral Trust, which is funded by Bharti Airtel, DLF and Hero group. The group alone donated a total amount of Rs 67 crore to the BJP and Rs 39 crore to the Congress party.
Also read: BJP raised over Rs 800 crore before Lok Sabha polls; Tata Group top donor
Edited by Manoj Sharma