BJP gets most donations, Cong is a distant second

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) far outstripped rivals in attracting large donations from business houses and individuals in the 2020-21 financial year, accounting for nearly 75% of all such funding, according to the mandatory annual contribution reports submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The party in power at the Centre received over ₹477 crore in large donations in 2020-21, almost 6.5 times the ₹74 crore garnered by the opposition Congress party, revealed the reports published on Tuesday on the poll watchdog’s website.

Large amounts donated to the BJP, however, declined from the preceding year’s ₹785.77 crore. All political parties have to declare donations in excess of ₹20,000 for every financial year.

The BJP received donations from 2,206 contributors, and its closest rival Congress received donations from 1,059 donors, their reports showed.

The Trinamool Congress received ₹42.51 crore from 26 donors, followed by the Nationalist Congress Party at over ₹26.26 crore from 79 donors. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) received ₹12.85 crore from 226 donors.

“The party in power obviously has a greater number of donations,” said Jagdeep Chhokar, founder and trustee of the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-partisan NGO. “However, this is the tip of the iceberg and is nowhere near the total finances of a political party. But at the same time, it is a rough indicator.”

Large donations to the Bahujan Samaj Party have disappeared. It declared zero contributions over ₹20,000 for the second year in a row.

The total donations received by all parties was more than ₹633.66 crore. The BJP received nearly 75% of it, while the Congress cornered 11%.

The total donations (above ₹20,000) declared by the parties for FY 2019-20, a national election year was ₹1,013.805 crore from 6,363 donations.

In 2019-20, too, the BJP topped the chart in receiving corporate and individual donations, as it collected ₹785.77 crore. The Congress received ₹139.01 crore in that financial year, more than what it received in 2020-21.

The donations declared by the BJP were more than three times the aggregate declared by the Congress, Nationalist congress Party, Communist Party of India, communist Party of India (Marxist) and Trinamool Congress, according to a report on the 2019-20 trends by ADR.

In 2019-20, the BJP had received over 75% of the electoral bonds, while the Congress came a distant second with only 9% of the bonds sold. Electoral bonds worth ₹3,435 crore were sold in the 2019-20 financial year, according to Election Commission data.

THE RULING PARTY RECEIVED OVER ₹477 CR IN LARGE DONATIONS IN 2020-21, ALMOST 6.5 TIMES THE ₹74 CR GARNERED BY THE CONGRESS PARTY