Muristek
New Delhi, June 17
Election expenses dominated the account statements of parties submitted to the Election Commission for FY 2020-21.
The eight national parties have declared a total income of Rs 1,373.783 crore in financial year 2020-21, with the BJP's share being nearly 55 per cent of it, a non-government electoral watchdog said today.
The BJP, Congress, BSP, NCP, CPI, CPM, AITC and the NPP are the eight national parties recognised by the EC.
The BJP declared a total income of Rs 752.337 crore during FY 2020-21. Out of the income, it spent Rs 421 crore as election expenses followed by Rs 145 crore as administrative costs.
The Congress' total income during the period was Rs 285 crore. It spent Rs 91 crore on account of elections and Rs 88 crore as administrative expenses. The TMC reported an income of Rs 74.17 crore during 2020-21. The party spent Rs 90 crore on elections and Rs 4 crore as administrative and general expenses, thus exceeding its income for the year by over 78 per cent.
According to a report compiled by election watchdog Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), regional parties that are ruling parties in states where they are primarily based, reported receiving more funds through electoral bonds during FY 2020-21 than national parties, including BJP and Indian National Congress.
The YSR-Congress, ruling party of Andhra Pradesh, tops the list having reported receiving Rs 96.25 crore as donations through electoral bonds. The next is DMK, ruling party of Tamil Nadu, which reported receiving Rs 80 crore through electoral bonds, followed by Biju Janata Dal (BJD) of Odisha (Rs 67 crore).
The BJP reported receiving Rs 22.38 crore and Congress reported receiving Rs 10 crore only through electoral bonds during this period. The Trinamool Congress, ruling party of West Bengal, which is a regional party for all practical purposes but has been accorded the status of national party by the EC, reported receiving Rs 42 crore in donations through electoral bonds.
The ADR report, which is on the topic of income and expenditure by parties, noted that the BJP did not declare any income from the sale of coupons for the 2020-21 period. National parties that declared a total income of Rs 169.5 crore from sale of coupons consisted of Congress (Rs 156 crore), NCP (Rs 8.2 crore) and CPM (Rs 4.4 crore).