The total declared income of 32 regional political parties in 2016-17 was ₹321.03 crore and their cumulative expenditure stood at ₹435.48 crore, according to an Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report.
The Samajwadi Party reported the highest of ₹82.76 crore during the period, about 26% of the total income of regional parties. The Telugu Desam Party had an income of ₹72.92 crore and the AIADMK ₹48.88 crore.
Audit reports of 16 other regional parties were unavailable for the check period. They include Aam Aadmi Party, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference and Rashtriya Janta Dal, the report said.
Of the 32 parties, whose records were available, 17 had declared ₹114.45 crore as unspent income. In all, 14 showed a decline in their income in 2016-17 compared to the previous year, while 13 declared an increase. Five regional parties had not submitted their Income Tax Returns to the Election Commission for 2015-16.
The total income of 27 regional parties, which had submitted Income-Tax Returns, went up from ₹291.14 crore in 2015-16 to ₹316.05 crore in 2016-17.
The ADR report said that the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen and the Janata Dal (Secular) showed over 87% of their total income as unspent, while the TDP had 67% of its income unspent in 2016-17.
The DMK declared expenditure of ₹81.88 crore, the SP ₹64.34 crore and the AIADMK ₹37.89 crore, more than their annual income.
The ADR said the most common and popular source of income for regional parties in 2015-16 and 2016-17 were grant, donations, contributions, gross receipts and interest income.
