BJP richest national party in FY17 with income of ₹1,034 cr
THE ADR SAID FOUR OF THE SEVEN PARTIES (BJP, CONGRESS, NCP AND CPI) CONSISTENTLY DELAYED SUBMITTING AUDIT REPORTS FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS
NEWDELHI: Seven national parties declared a total income of ₹1,559.17 crore in 2016-17, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reporting the highest income — ₹1,034.27 crore, according to a report from the Association of Democratic Reforms ( ADR) released on Tuesday.
“This (BJP’S income) forms 66.34% of the total income of national parties added together during 2016-17,” the Delhi-based think-tank said in the report.
It added that the jump in income for the BJP from 2015-16 (₹570.86 crore) to 2016-17 was 81.18%
The Indian National Congress (INC) followed with and income of ₹225.36 crore which was a 14.45% of the total income, it said. Income f or the Congress decreased by 14 % from ₹261.56 crore in 2015-16.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) declared the lowest income of ₹2.08 crore which makes up for a mere 0.13%.
The data has been compiled from Income tax returns (ITRS) filed by national parties.
The seven parties declared a total expenditure of ₹1,228.26 crore, the report added.
The BJP led in expenditure as well with a reported spend of ₹710.05 crore, while the Congress incurred a total expense of ₹321.66 crore (₹96.30 crore more than its total income).
The report further said that 70% of the total income of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), 31% of the income of the BJP and the CPI and 6% of the total income of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was declared unspent.
The BSP’S total income was ₹173.58 crore during 2016-17, while its total expenditure was ₹51.83 crore.
The BSP’S income however increased by 266.32% from ₹47.38 crore in 2015-16 to ₹173.58 crore in 2016-17, while that of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) increased by 88.63% from ₹9.137 crore during 2015-16 to ₹17.235 crore in 2016-17.
The report further noted that between 2015-16 and 2016-17, the income of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) fell by 81.52% and that of the CPI (M) fell by 6.72%.
Both the BJP and the Congress have declared donations/ contributions as one of their three main sources of income.
“Grants/donations/contributions of ₹997.12 crore declared by the BJP formed 96.41% of its total income during 2016-17. Declaration of ₹115.64 crore under revenue from issuance of coupons by the Congress forms the highest income of the party, contributing 51.32% of the total income during 2016-17,” it said.
The highest expenditure for the BJP during 2016-17 was towards election/general propaganda. It amounted to ₹606.64 crore followed by administrative costs of ₹69.78 crore.
The Congress spent the highest (₹149.65 crore) on election expenditure followed by administrative and general expenses of ₹115.65 crore, the report said.
The due date for submission of annual audited accounts for the parties was October 30, 2017. In its observation, ADR said that four of the seven national parties (BJP, Congress, NCP and CPI) have consistently delayed submitting their audit reports for the past five years.