The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received nearly 90% of all corporate donations worth ₹680.49 crore that five national parties together gathered in 2022-23, according to a report by election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The report focuses on donations above ₹20,000, received by the national political parties during the financial year 2022-23, as per details submitted by the parties to the Election Commission of India (EC).
These parties include Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and National People’s Party (NPP). The due date for submission of contribution reports for the parties was September 30, 2023.
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The total donations declared by the national parties for 2022-23 was ₹850.438 crore.
A total of ₹719.858 crore was declared by the BJP, followed by ₹79.924 crore by the Congress. The donations declared by the BJP are more than five times the aggregate declared by INC, AAP, NPP and CPI(M) for the same period.
BSP declared that the party did not receive any donations above ₹20,000 during this time period.
The total donations received by the national parties during 2022-23 increased by ₹91.701 crore, an increase of 12.09% from the previous financial year 2021-22.
Donations to BJP increased from ₹614.626 crore during 2021-22 to ₹719.858 crore during FY 2022-23. On the other hand, the Congress’s donations decreased from ₹95.459 crore during 2021-22 to ₹79.924 crore during 2022-23.
A total of ₹276.202 crore was donated to the national parties from Delhi, followed by ₹160.509 crore from Gujarat and ₹96.273 crore from Maharashtra.
Donations to the national parties made by the corporate/business sector amounted to ₹680.495 crore – 80.017% of total donations – out of which the BJP received ₹610.491 crore, while the Congress got a total of ₹55.625 crore.
The BJP’s ₹610.491 crore was more than eight times the total amount of ₹70.004 crore of corporate donations declared by all other national parties for 2022-23.
