Electoral bonds worth ₹3,429.56 crore were redeemed by parties in 2019-20, and 87.29% of this was received by four national parties – the BJP, Congress, TMC and the NCP, poll rights group Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said.
In a new report, the ADR said the BJP declared a total income of ₹3,623.28 crore during the financial year 2019-20, but spent only 45.57% (₹1,651.022 crore) of it.
The Congress' total income in 2019-20 was ₹682.21 crore. The party spent ₹998.158 crore, which exceeds its income for that year by 46.31%, it said.
The TMC declared a total income of ₹143.676 crore during FY 2019-20, and spent ₹107.277 crore (74.67%), the ADR report added.
"As per the data shared by SBI in response to ADR's RTI application, electoral bonds worth ₹3,429.5586 crore were redeemed by parties in FY 2019-20. Of this, 87.29% was received by four national parties – BJP, INC, AITC & NCP," it said.
"The total amount of electoral bonds declared by national and regional parties for FY 2019-20 so far is ₹3,441.324 crore. The difference in the amount declared by political parties and the data on EBs redeemed received from SBI could be due to the manner in which parties report in their audit report," the ADR said.
"Seven national parties (BJP, Congress, CPM, NCP, BSP, AITC and CPI) have declared a total income of ₹4,758.206 crore, collected from all over India," it said.
The poll rights body said national parties that received the maximum income from donations or contributions include the BJP (₹3,427.775 crore), the Congress (₹469.386 crore), AITC (₹108.548 crore), CPM (₹93.017 crore) and CPI (₹3.024 crore).
"Four national parties namely BJP, INC, AITC and NCP collected 62.92% (₹2,993.826 cr) of their total income from donations through electoral bonds for FY 2019-20. BJP received donations through electoral bonds worth ₹2,555.0001 crore, Congress received Rs 317.861 crore, AITC received ₹100.4646 crore and NCP received ₹20.50 crore," the report said.
The report added that the most common and popular items of expenditure for national parties in FY 2019-20 were election expenses or general propaganda and administrative or general expenses.
It also said that between 2018-19 and 2019-20, the BJP's income increased by 50.34% (₹1,213.20 crore) from ₹2,410.08 crore to ₹3,623.28 crore.
The Congress's income decreased by 25.69% (₹235.82 crore) from ₹918.03 crore during 2018-19 to ₹682.21 crore during 2019-20.
"Between FY 2018-19 and 2019-20, the highest percentage increase in income was declared by the NCP of 68.77%(₹34.873 crore) from ₹50.71 crore during FY 2018-19 to ₹85.583 crore during FY 2019-20," it said.
