NEW DELHI, Apr 7: The BJP received the highest amount in large donations among national parties in the financial year 2023-24, with over Rs 2,243 crore declared from 8,358 donations, according to a report by poll rights body the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
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The report, based on data submitted to the Election Commission, highlighted trends in political donations above Rs 20,000.
The total declared donations to national parties stood at Rs 2,544.28 crore from 12,547 contributions – a sharp 199 per cent increase compared to the previous year.
BJP’s declared donations alone accounted for 88 per cent of the total. The Congress was a very distant second with Rs 281.48 crore from 1,994 donations.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Communist Party of India (Marxist), and National People’s Party (NPEP) reported smaller amounts, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) once again declared zero donations above the Rs 20,000 threshold, consistent with its filings for the past 18 years.
Donations to the BJP increased from Rs 719.858 crore in FY 2022-23 to Rs 2,243.94 crore in FY 2023-24, marking a 211.72 per cent increase. Similarly, donations to the Congress rose from Rs 79.924 crore in FY 2022-23 to Rs 281.48 crore in FY 2023-24, reflecting a 252.18 per cent increase, the report said.
Over the same period, donations declared by the AAP decreased by 70.18 per cent or Rs 26.038 crore, while donations declared by NPEP decreased by 98.02 per cent or Rs 7.331 crore, it said
Despite the ECI’s deadline of September 30, 2024, only BSP and AAP submitted their contribution reports on time. BJP submitted its report with a 42-day delay, followed by CPI(M), INC, and NPEP, which submitted it 43, 27, and 23 days late.
The report said 3,755 donations to the national parties were made by corporate/business sectors amounting to Rs 2,262.55 crore (88.92 per cent of total donations), while 8,493 individual donors donated Rs 270.872 crore (10.64 per cent of total donations) in FY 2023-24.
The report said that 3,478 of these donations were made to BJP (Rs 2,064.58 crore). The party received Rs 169.126 crore through 4,628 individual donors in FY 2023-24.
“The Congress received a total of Rs 190.3263 cr via 102 donations from corporate/business sectors and Rs 90.899 cr via 1,882 individual donors during FY 2023-24,” it said.
The ADR said BJP at Rs 2064.58 crore received more than nine times the total amount (Rs 197.97 crore) of all corporate donations declared by all other national parties for FY 2023-24.(PTI)
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