The DMK had the highest income and expenditure among the 31 regional parties analysed in 2020-2021, with its spending accounting for over half of the total income, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) released on Friday said. 

The ADR report analysed the annual income declarations submitted by regional parties to the Election Commission, though the reports of 23 out of the 54 regional parties were not available on the EC’s website as on Friday despite the deadline for submission being October 31, 2021. Among the parties whose annual audited accounts were unavailable were the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party and the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. 

The 31 parties analysed had a total income of ₹529.41 crore, of which the DMK declared ₹149.95 crore, followed by the YSR Congress Party (₹107.99 crore) and the Biju Janata Dal (₹73.34 crore), the report said. 

At the same time, the parties declared a total expenditure of ₹414.02 crore, of which the DMK accounted for 52.77% (₹218.49 crore). The Telugu Desam Party declared ₹54.76 crore in spending, followed by the AIADMK (₹42.36 crore). 

Electoral bonds

The 31 parties declared that electoral bonds were the source of 47.34% of their income. In 2019-2020, more than 62% of the income of seven national parties came from electoral bonds, the report said. 

Among its recommendations, the ADR said the reporting of financial information should be improved. “To ensure that there is financial transparency and accountability on the part of the political parties, there must be a strict mechanism with respect to reporting of financial information. The procedures and reporting framework must be standardised to ensure that a true picture of the financial position of the political parties is revealed to the general public,” the report stated.