ADR also said that the total income of national and regional parties from unknown sources for financial year 2020-21 stood at Rs 690.67 crore.
New Delhi: An analysis of their Income Tax Returns and donation statements filed with the Election Commission of India (ECI) has revealed that the source of income of political parties remain largely unknown since political parties are not required to reveal the names of individuals or organizations giving less than Rs 20,000. They also do not have to reveal names of those who donate via electoral bonds. As a result, more than 36 per cent of the funds cannot be traced and are from ‘unknown’ sources, said Association of Democratic Research (ADR).
For the analysis, the ADR has considered eight national parties BJP, INC, AITC, CPM, NCP, BSP, CPI and NPEP and 27 regional parties AAP, AGP, AIADMK, AIFB, AIMIM, AIUDF, BJD, CPI(ML)(L), DMDK, DMK, GFP, JDS, JDU, JMM, KC-M, MNS, NDPP, NPF, PMK, RLD, SAD, SDF, Shiv Sena, SKM, TDP, TRS and YSR-Congress. Meanwhile, BSP declared that it did not receive any funds from voluntary contributions (above or below Rs 20,000) or sale of coupons or electoral bonds or unknown sources of income.
The ADR has observed that between financial years 2004-05 and 2020-21, the national parties have collected Rs 15,077.97 crore from unknown sources.
ADR has said that for the year 2020-21, eight national political parties have declared Rs 426.742 crore income from unknown sources and 27 regional parties have received Rs 263.928 crore income from unknown sources. During the year 2020-21, INC declared Rs 178.782 crore as income from unknown sources which is 41.89 per cent of the total income of national parties from unknown sources.
The analysis has further revealed that the BJP has declared Rs 100.502 crore as income from unknown sources which is 23.55 per cent of the total income of national parties from unknown sources. Income of regional parties like YSR-Congress is Rs 96.2507 crore, DMK is Rs 80.018 crore, BJD is Rs 67 core, MNS is Rs 5.78 crore and AAP is Rs 5.352 crore.
The ADR further revealed that out of Rs 690.67 crore as income from unknown sources, share of income from electoral bonds was Rs 325.06 crore or 47.06 per cent. Electoral bonds received by eight national parties are to the tune of Rs 74.46 crore and that of the 27 regional parties are to the tune of Rs 250.6 crore. It has also said that the combined income of INC and NCP from sale of coupons between financial years 2004-05 and 2020-21 stands at Rs 4,261.83 crore.
The association said that while the national and regional political parties were brought under the RTI Act by the CIC ruling in June 2013, they have still not complied with the decision. Full transparency is, unfortunately, not possible under the current laws, and it is only the RTI that can keep citizens informed.