Press Release: National and Regional Parties collected a total of Rs 5323.41 cr during the election period of 1535 days between 2004 and 2015

28 views

Skip to first unread message

ADR India

unread,

May 23, 2016, 3:27:30 AM5/23/16

to national-el...@googlegroups.com, national...@googlegroups.com

Press Release

Date: 23-05-2016

Analysis of Funds Collected and Expenditure incurred by Political Parties

During elections in 11 years – 2004 to 2015

Executive Summary

Total number of elections held between 2004 and 2015

· Between January 2004 and December 2015, there were a total of 71 Assembly Elections and 3 Lok Sabha Elections.

· The maximum number of Assembly elections were held in 2008 when 10 states (Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Rajasthan, J & K, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram) went for polls while least number of Assembly elections were held in 2010 when only Bihar went for polls.

· Total funds were collected and spent between 2004 and 2015, during the election period of 1535 days.

Number of elections vs. number of contesting parties

· Except in 2004, it can be noticed that between 2005 and 2015, the number of contesting parties increased with the total number of Assembly elections held during that period. While 65 parties contested in 4 Assembly elections held in 2005, it increased to 82 parties in 5 Assembly elections held in 2006.

· Maximum number of 120 parties contested in the 10 Assembly elections held in 2008.

· The number of National and Regional Parties which contested in the Lok Sabha elections held in 2004 was 42 while during 2009 Lok Sabha elections, it was 41 parties and in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it increased to 45 National and Regional parties.

Elections Vs. Parties	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Assembly Elections	6	4	5	7	10	7	1	5	7	9	8	2
Contesting Parties	62	65	82	93	120	90	18	76	88	102	101	35
Lok Sabha Elections	1					1					1
Contesting Parties	42					41					45

Total funds collected by Political Parties: Lok Sabha elections (2004, 2009, 2014)

· According to the proforma issued by the Election Commission of India to political parties for submission of their election expenditure statements, funds received between the date of announcements of elections and completion of elections have to be disclosed in cash, cheques/DD, in kind (value of which has to be specified).

· Collectively, during the Lok Sabha elections held in 2004, 2009 and 2014, political parties declared collecting a total of Rs 2355.35 crores of which 44% or Rs 1039.06 crores was by cash and 55% or Rs 1299.53 crores was by cheque.

· Rs 16.76 crores was declared by the parties as funds collected ‘in kind’ during the Lok Sabha elections.

Inline image 2

Total funds collected by Political Parties: Assembly elections (2004-2015)

· Maximum funds were collected during the 7 Assembly Elections held in 2012 where 13 political parties have declared collecting a total of Rs 695.28 crores of which Rs 370.45 crores was collected in cash (53% of total funds) and Rs 324.83 crores was collected by cheque (47% of total funds).

· Collectively, during the 71 Assembly elections held between 2004 and 2015, political parties have declared collecting Rs 2107.80 crores in cash (63% of total funds) and Rs 1244.86 crores by cheque (37% of total funds).

· Rs 15.39 crores was declared by the parties as funds collected ‘in kind’.

Inline image 3

Top 5 regional parties which collected maximum funds and incurred maximum expenditure during Lok Sabha elections

· Among all the Regional parties who have submitted their election expenditure statements for the Lok Sabha elections held in 2004, 2009, 2014, the top 5 parties include SP, AAP, AIADMK, BJD and SAD.

· These 5 parties have declared collecting a total of Rs 267.14 crores which forms 62% of the total funds declared by all the regional parties collectively. They have declared collecting Rs 129.22 crores in cash (48% of total funds) and Rs 137.72 crores by cheque (52% of total funds).

· Despite contesting in only one Lok Sabha election, AAP stands second in the total funds collected by declaring Rs 51.83 crores. This forms 19% of total funds collected by all the 5 Regional parties which contested in 3 Lok Sabha elections

· Among the top 5 regional parties, SP has declared the maximum expenditure of Rs 90.09 crores during the Lok Sabha elections followed by AIADMK which had declared incurring an expenditure of Rs 39.31 crores.

Inline image 6

Top 5 regional parties which collected maximum funds and incurred maximum expenditure during Assembly elections

· Among all the regional parties which have declared their expenditure during Assembly elections held between 2004 and 2015, the top 5 parties include SP, AAP, SAD, Shiv Sena and AITC.

· The 5 parties have declared a total of Rs 291.92 crores as funds collected of which Rs 112.87 crores was in cash and Rs 179.02 crores was by cheque. This forms 82% of the total funds declared by all the regional parties collectively.

· SP declared collecting a total of Rs 186.8 crores while AAP comes a distant second with Rs 38.54 crores as total funds collected.

· SP declared incurring the maximum expenditure of Rs 96.54 crores during the Assembly elections followed by Shiv Sena with Rs 29.605 crores.

Inline image 7

Details of parties defaulting in submission of expenditure statements – 2011 to 2015

Based on the information on the website of the ECI, ADR analysed availability of statements of election expenditure incurred by political parties during Assembly Elections held between 2011 and 2015.

· Among the National Parties, election expenditure statements of NCP and CPI are not available for 2 Assembly elections held between 2011 and 2015.

· The availability of election expenditure statements of Regional Parties is equally worrisome where the statements of JD(U) is unavailable for 15 Assembly Elections while that of SP is unavailable for 11 Assembly Elections.

Observations & Recommendations of ADR

Observations

· The election expenditure statements submitted by 49 Regional parties for Lok Sabha elections were analysed:

· 20 of the 49 parties had spent more than the total funds collected during the election period.

· A total of Rs 58.56 crores was ‘remaining unpaid’ by 20 parties at the time of submission of expenditure statements. It is to be noted that 12 parties out of the 20 had declared expenditure more than the funds collected.

· Maximum expenditure ‘remaining unpaid’ was declared by AIADMK, Rs 25.91 cr (66% of total exp); SP, Rs 9.72 cr (11% of total exp) and YSR-C, Rs 5.6 cr (31% of total exp).

· The election expenditure statements submitted by 37 Regional parties for Assembly elections were analysed:

· 19 parties declared spending more than the funds collected

· Rs 44.66 cr was the amount declared as ‘remaining unpaid’ by 16 parties. 10 of those who had declared amounts remaining unpaid had incurred expenditure more than the funds collected.

· Maximum expenditure ‘remaining unpaid’ was declared by SP, Rs 17.79 cr (18% of total exp); AITC Rs 6.1 cr (33% of total exp); Shiv Sena, Rs 5.925 cr (20% of total exp)

· ECI had issued transparency guidelines and made it effective from 1^st Oct, 2014 stating that donors making cash donations made to parties would not get tax exemption. It also stated that parties should not make any expenditure above Rs 20,000 in cash (with exceptions). But there is no provision in the expenditure format for the parties to declare expenses below or above Rs 20,000. Hence, it appears that the parties are taking advantage of the opacity in the expenditure statements to collect and spend funds in cash.

· Since the guidelines became effective, Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar and Delhi have gone for polls.

· During Bihar and Delhi assembly elections:

§ 9 parties have submitted their expenditure statements: AAP, JDU, LJP, RJD, RLD, RLSP, SP, SAD, Shiv Sena

§ A total of Rs 9.39 crores was collected by them in cash (23% of total funds)

§ Rs 2.30 cr spent in cash (5.1% of total expenditure).

· A total of Rs 7.46 cr was remaining unpaid at the time of submission of the expenditure statements

Recommendations

· It must be made mandatory for all political parties to submit their statements of expenditure in the format given by the ECI, within the prescribed time limit. Political parties not submitting on time or in the prescribed format should be heavily penalized.

· The details of all donors who contribute to national and regional parties exclusively for their election campaigns must be declared in the public domain irrespective of the amount donated.

· A format similar to the donations report along with the date of donations, submitted to the ECI on an annual basis, has to be prescribed for the expenditure statement so as to bring in more transparency in the finances of the political parties especially during elections when it is said that black money plays a major role.

· Similar to the shadow observers of the ECI for monitoring expenditure of candidates, there must also be observers for monitoring the expenditure of political parties.

· While it is crucial for political parties to submit their expenditure statements for greater financial transparency, it is equally important to file the same within the time limit set by the ECI and endorsed by the Supreme Court of India. The National and Regional Parties should, ideally, lead by example by filing complete and correct statements of expenditure to the ECI well in time for public scrutiny so as to encourage financial transparency.