The Congress received Rs. 66 crore and the Nationalist Congress Party Rs. 14 crore in donations exceeding Rs. 20,000 each in the financial year 2013-14.
Many parties submitted to the Election Commission their annual reports of such donations under Section 29 C of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, before the November 30 deadline. They get tax exemption on this income.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the Janata Dal (United), the Janata Dal (Secular), the Biju Janata Dal, the YSR Congress Party, the Indian National Lok Dal, the Lok Jan Shakti Party, the National Conference and the People Democratic Party, however, did not furnish the information. Almost all the Congress MPs and Ministers in the previous Lok Sabha have contributed to the party in various amounts.
The Trinamool Congress disclosed Rs. 1.4 crore, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Rs. 1.03 crore and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Rs. 1.04 crore. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, the Shiv Sena and the Telugu Desam Party submitted the reports, but their gross donations were not immediately known.
The Bahujan Samaj Party was the only major party which said it received “nil” donations in this category. Experts said it was in line with the party’s claim of getting funds only from people with small earnings.
The AAP has named 1,571 donors who contributed varied amounts through cheques, cash or electronic transfer. The DMK said it had received over Rs. 79.85 crore in donations, but only Rs. 1.05 crore was collected over the Rs. 20,000 limit.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has reported only one donor who donated over Rs. 20,000 — party leader and Chief Minister Hemant Soren with a cheque for Rs. 6.5 lakh.
The Election Commission regulates and scrutinises the reports and only those parties which have filed their contribution report in Form 24A prescribed under Rule 85B of the Conduct of Election rules, 1961 before November 30 get tax exemption.
