Press Release
Date: 9th May, 2017
This report analyses the details provided by the National Parties in their audit report, submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the FY 2015-16.
For details of share of donations above Rs 20,000 in total donations to the party, top sources of income and top items of expenditure of the parties, please refer to the detailed reports in English and Hindi attached herewith.
Executive Summary
· The due date for submission of annual audited accounts for the parties was 31st Oct,’16.
· AITC, CPM and BSP were the only three National Parties to submit the audit reports on time.
· As on 1st May, 2017, BJP and INC have not yet submitted their audited reports to the ECI, almost six months after the due date for submission.
· For the FY 2014-15, INC delayed it’s submission of audit report to the ECI by 125 days, BJP by 104 days and NCP by 63 days.
Total Income and Expenditure of National Political Parties for - FY-2015-2016
· BSP declared a total income of Rs 47.385 cr during FY- 2015-16, but spent only 25% (Rs 11.90 cr) of the total income.
· AITC declared a total income of Rs 34.578 cr during FY- 2015-16, but spent only 39% (Rs 13.35 cr) of the total income.
· NCP is the only party which has spent 19% more than its total income during FY- 2015-16. While the party’s income was Rs 9.14 cr, it incurred a total expenditure of Rs 10.84 cr.
Total Income of National Parties FY 2015-2016
· 5 out of 7 National Parties (BSP, NCP, CPM, CPI and AITC) have declared a total income of Rs. 200.76 cr, collected from all over India.
· CPM has shown the highest income amongst the National Parties with a total income of Rs 107.48 cr during FY 2015-16. This forms 53.34% of the total income National Parties, together during FY 2015-16.
· BSP declared the second highest income of Rs 47.385 cr which forms 23.60% of the total income of the 5 National Parties.
Comparison of total income of National Parties between FY 2014-15 and 2015-16
· The income of BJP during FY 2014-15 was highest among all the National Parties. The party had declared a total income of Rs 970.43 cr but is yet to submit its copy of Income Tax returns for FY 2015-16 to the Election Commission of India.
· Between FY 2014-15 and 2015-16, the income of AITC increased by 180.68% (Rs 22.26 cr) from Rs 12.32 cr to Rs 34.58 cr while the income of NCP decreased by 86.49% (Rs 58.51 cr) from Rs 67.65 cr to Rs 9.14 cr.
· The income of BSP decreased by 57.68% (Rs 64.58 cr) from Rs 111.96 cr during FY 2014-15 to Rs 47.38 cr during FY 2015-16.
Unknown sources of income of National parties for FY- 2015-2016
· Total income of five National parties during FY 2015-16: Rs 200.76 cr.
· Total income of political parties from known donors (details of donors as available from contribution report submitted by parties to Election Commission): Rs 4.75 cr, which is 2.37 % of the total income of the National parties during FY 2015-16.
· Total income of political parties from other known sources (e.g., sale of assets, membership fees, bank interest, sale of publications, party levy etc.): Rs 134.35 cr, or 66.92% of total income.
· Total income of political parties from unknown sources (income specified in the IT Returns whose sources are unknown), for the FY 2015-16 is Rs 61.66 cr, which is 30.71% of the total income of the parties from all over India.
Details of unknown sources of income as declared by the parties in their IT Returns
· Among the unknown sources of funding, maximum funds were collected under “Voluntary Contributions” by the five National Parties during FY 2015-16. A total of Rs 37.565 cr was collected under “Voluntary Contributions”which formed 60.92% of the total income from unknown sources of the National Parties.
· The second most preferred unknown source of funding was “Miscellaneous Income” under which the National Parties collected a total of Rs 15.89 cr which formed 25.77% of their total income from unknown sources during FY 2015-16.
· BSP has not declared any income under voluntary contributions, miscellaneous income or any collection from sale of coupons/ publications.
· The Supreme Court gave a judgment on September 13, 2013 declaring that no part of a candidate’s affidavit should be left blank. Along the same lines, we recommend that the Election Commission India impose rules that no part of the Form 24A submitted by political parties providing details of donations above Rs 20,000 should be left blank.
· Full details of all donors should be made available for public scrutiny under the RTI. Some countries where this is done include Bhutan, Nepal, Germany, France, Italy, Brazil, Bulgaria, the US and Japan. In none of these countries is it possible for 75% of the source of funds to be unknown.
· Any party which does not submit its IT returns or donation statement to the ECI on or before the due date, their income should not be tax-exempted and defaulting parties should be derecognized.
· Those parties not following the ICAI guidelines for auditing of reports should be scrutinized by the IT department.
· The National political parties must provide all information on their finances under the Right to Information Act. This will only strengthen political parties, elections and democracy.
Media and Journalist Helpline Email: a...@adrindia.org |
Maj. Gen Anil Verma (Retd.) Head National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms |
Prof Jagdeep Chhokar IIM Ahmedabad (Retd.) Founder Member National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms |
Prof Trilochan Sastry IIM Bangalore Founder Member, National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms |