National and regional political parties received Rs 11,367.34 crore of total income during this period, as per a report by the Delhi-based Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)
Coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent call for electoral reforms, especially transparency in party funding, fresh statistics show that political parties in India have received some 69% of their funds from unknown sources.
National and regional political parties received Rs 11,367.34 crore of total income during this period, as per a report by the Delhi-based Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a think tank on electoral and political matters. The income of political parties from known donors was Rs 1,835.63 crore, which is just 16 per cent of their total income.
At a day-long programme on transparency in political funding, attended by two former Chief Election Commissioners and a Supreme Court judge, speakers asked for more powers for the Election Commission. It should be mandatory for the political parties to receive funds through digital mode, they said. “The Digital India campaign is an opportunity for all political parties to accept money through digital mode and bring in transparency,” said Prof Jagdeep Chhokar. He said in countries several countreis across the world, it was not possible for political parties to accept funds form unknown sources.
In the past 11 years, 83 per cent of total income of Indian National Congress (INC) amounting to Rs 3,323.39 crore and 65 per cent of BJP's earnings amounting to Rs 2,125.91 crore came from unknown sources.
Among the regional parties, 94 per cent of Samajwadi Party's total income of Rs 766.27 crore came from unknown sources. Similarly, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) received 86 per cent of its income ie Rs 88.06 crore from unknown sources.
The income of national parties from unknown sources increased by 313 per cent, from Rs 274.13 crore during 2004-05 to Rs 1,130.92 crore during 2014-15.
Further, while none of the political parties has so far volunteered to give detailed information about how they coped with the demonetization drive, the audit reports for the financial year 2015-16 reveal that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) declared the largest amount of cash-in-hand at Rs. 3.56 crore. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) declared Rs 39.98 lakh. Bahujan Samaj Party (declared Rs. 26.59 lakh.
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