BJP earns ₹1,000 cr, TMC donations dip

NEW DELHI: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has earned more than ₹1,000 crore in 2017-18 and is all set to be the maximum gainer of political funding in the last financial year, according to its annual returns submitted to the Election Commission (EC).

While the BJP has emerged as the richest party ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, four other national parties have gained financially in the year ending March 2018. Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has enhanced its corpus to ₹717 crore from ₹ 681 crore. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress has a kitty of ₹291 crore, up from ₹262 crore in 2016-17.

The two communist parties, too, have managed to enhance their corpus, even as they are reduced to being marginal forces in national politics. The income of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for 2017-18 stood at ₹104 crore, about 10% of the BJP’s annual income, and that of the Communist Party of India at ₹1.5 crore.

The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are yet to submit their annual returns to the EC, though rules mandate that all recognized, registered parties must do so.

The BJP has also got the lion’s share from the electoral bonds notified by the Government of India on January 2 this year -- Rs 210 crore. In other words, it has bagged 95% of the Rs 222 crore worth of bonds issued by public sector banks.

BJP spokesperson Gopal Agarwal said the party’s large collection was the outcome of its efforts to make its financial dealings transparent. “The party has made efforts to make every transaction transparent and it reflects in the audited reports that are submitted to the Election Commission. We collect money online and though cheques, now people are also paying through the NaMo App. Other parties do not report their entire collection of funds which is like keeping black money. We have ensured there is a single account for all transactions and get our records and finances audited, many parties do not even file their balance sheets,” Agarwal said.

Interestingly, the CPI(M) has been able to increase its income from fees and subscriptions and grants and donations. But income from party mouthpieces has fallen by 40%.

Trinamool Congress’s annual income has dipped to ₹516 crore from ₹609 crore in 2016-17, primarily because of a sharp reduction in corporate donations and contributions. From Rs 2.17 crore in donations in 2016-17, it got a meagre Rs 30 lakh in the last financial year. “This is primarily because the party brass is cautious after Sarada and other chit fund scams in the state,” said a Trinamool MP asking not to be named.