BJP got the lion’s share of corporate donations: ADR

Corporate houses donated ~956.8 crore to national parties between FY13 and FY16 — 89 per cent of total contribution from known sources. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received the highest share (~705.8 crore) of this, with 2,987 donors, according to the election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Corporate houses donated ~956.8 crore to national parties between FY13 and FY16 — 89 per cent of total contribution from known sources. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received the highest share (~705.8 crore) of this, with 2,987 donors, according to election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The ADR said, five national parties got ~1,070.7 crore through contributions above ~20,000.

The Congress got ~198.16 crore from 167 corporate donors during this period. For the BJP and the Congress, contributions above ~20,000 from corporate entities were 92 per cent and 85 per cent, respectively. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) got ~50.7 crore from 40 corporate donors.

Two other national parties — Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India — had the lowest shares of corporate donations: 17 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. The CPI(M) got ~1.9 crore from 45 donors; the CPI got ~0.2 crore from 17. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was not considered, as it declared it had received no contributions above ~20,000. The Trinamool Congress, the seventh national party, was recognised as such only in September 2016.

Parties have to submit details of donors — name, address, permanent account number (PAN), mode of payment and amount — who have made donations above ~20,000 in a financial year to the Election Commission of India (ECI). The ADR said parties got maximum corporate donations in FY15, which was the year of Lok Sabha elections. The donations in that year alone contributed 60 per cent of the total corporate contribution to the parties’ coffers in the period under consideration.

Between FY15 and FY16, corporate donations came down by 86.6 per cent. The report said 1,933 donations through which national parties received ~384 crore did not have PAN details — in violation of a Supreme Court ruling. Address details were missing for 1,546 donations with total contribution of ~355 crore. “About 99 per cent of such donations went to the BJP,” it added. The parties also got 262 donations, contributing ~10.5 crore, from corporate entities with little or no internet presence, according to the report. The ADR said corporate entities should make public on websites their donations to political parties and a dedicated team of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) should scrutinise these.

According to an earlier ADR report, various business houses donated ~378.9 crore to national parties, constituting 87 per cent of the contribution from known sources in eight years, between FY05 and FY12.

“Despite not donating in 201213, Satya Electoral Trust was the top donor to three of the national parties, between 2012-13 and 201516. The trust donated 35 times in three years, amounting to ~260.9 crore” ADR said. The BJP declared receiving ~193.6 cr ore, the Congress got ~57.3 crore from the trust.

The General Electoral Trust, formed before the Electoral Trust Scheme was launched in 2013, was the second highest corporate donor to the BJP and Congress. From FY13 to FY16, the trust donated ~70.7 crore and ~54.1 crore to the two national parties, respectively, ADR said. Top donors to the Communist parties were “associations” or “unions”. The CPI got ~14.6 lakh from 15 different associations and unions, while the CPI(M) received about ~1 crore from seven different associations.