5 national parties earn Rs 300 cr in 2016-17; BSP shows highest income

New Delhi, February 7

Five out of seven national parties have declared a total income of Rs 299.54 crore during 2016-17, with the BSP showing the highest income of Rs 173.58 crore, says a report by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The BJP and the Congress have not yet submitted their audited reports to the ECI, more than three months after the due date for submission, the report which was released on Wednesday said.

The due date for submission of annual audited accounts for the parties was October 30, 2017.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) submitted their audit reports on time, while the Communist Party of India (CPI) submitted its report 22 days after the due date.

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The NCP submitted its audited report on January 19, 2018, more than two months after the due date.

“The BSP has shown the highest income amongst the national parties with a total income of Rs 173.58 crore during 2016-17. This forms 57.95 per cent of the total income of national parties together during 2016-17,” Delhi-based think-tank ADR said.

The CPM declared the second highest income of Rs 100.25 crore which forms 33.47 per cent of the total income of the five national parties, while the CPI declared the least income of Rs 2.07 crore which forms a mere 0.69 per cent of the total income of these parties during 2016-17.

The BSP declared a total income of Rs 173.58 crore during 2016-17, but spent only 30 per cent (Rs 51.83 crore) of the total income, the report, which analysed the total income and expenditure incurred by the national parties during 2016-17, as declared in their IT returns submitted to the ECI, said.

AITC declared a total income of Rs 6.39 crore during 2016-17, but spent an excess of Rs 17.87 crore (280 per cent) over total income. The NCP also incurred an excess expenditure of Rs 7.73 crore over its total income of Rs 17.23 crore, during 2016-17.

The income of the BJP during 2015-16 was the highest among all the national parties. The party had declared a total income of Rs 570.86 crore but is yet to submit its copy of Income Tax returns for 2016-17 to the Election Commission of India, ADR said.

Income of the INC was the second highest during 2015-16 with Rs 261.56 crore but the party is also yet to submit a copy of its IT returns with the ECI for FY16-17, the report added.

Between 2015-16 and 2016-17, the income of the BSP increased by 266.32 per cent from Rs 47.385 crore during 2015-16 to Rs 173.58 crore during 2016-17, while the income of the NCP increased by 88.63 per cent from Rs 9.137 crore to Rs 17.235 crore.

The report noted that between 2015-16 and 2016- 17, the income of the AITC decreased by 81.52 per cent from Rs 34.578 crore to Rs 6.39 crore, while the income of the CPM decreased by 6.72 per cent from Rs 107.48 crore to Rs 100.256 crore.

National parties have declared donations/contributions as one of their three main sources of income the BSP--Rs 75.26 crore, the CPM--Rs 36.727 crore, the NCP–Rs 6.62 crore and the AITC--Rs 2.17 crore, it said.

Grant/donations/contributions of Rs 75.26 crore declared by the BSP forms 43.36 per cent of the total income of the party during 2016-17. Declaration of Rs 9.666 crore under collection by issuing coupons/sale of publication by NCP forms the top most income of the party, contributing 55.95 per cent of the total income of the party during 2016-17.

The maximum expenditure for the CPM has been towards administrative and general expenses which amounted to Rs 41.23 crore, followed by expenses towards employee cost Rs 29.91 crore.

The BSP spent the maximum of Rs 40.97 crore on election expenditure, followed by expenditure of Rs 10.809 crore on administrative and general expenses.

The AITC declared to have spent 95.34 per cent of its total expenditure during 2016-17 on election expenditure (Rs 23.129 crore) while the NCP spent 47.78 per cent of its total expenditure on administrative and general expenses (Rs 11.929 crore). PTI