BJP Receives ₹4340.47 Crore in Donations in One Year: 51% Spent; Congress Second
New Delhi, 17 February – (www.deccanlive.com): According to a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received the highest donations among national parties in the financial year 2023-24, totaling ₹4340.47 crore.
Congress came second with ₹1225.12 crore in donations. The report stated that a significant portion of the donations for political parties came from electoral bonds.
The BJP spent 50.96% of its income, which amounts to ₹2211.69 crore, while Congress spent 83.69%, totaling ₹1025.25 crore.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) received ₹22.68 crore in donations but spent ₹34.09 crore, which was more than the amount received.
In total, BJP received 74.57% of the total donations to all parties, while the remaining five parties received 25.43%.
Most of the donations came from electoral bonds. BJP received the highest share, ₹1685.63 crore, while Congress received ₹828.36 crore and AAP got ₹10.15 crore.
In total, the three parties received ₹2524.1361 crore through electoral bonds, accounting for 43.36% of their total donations. However, the Supreme Court declared electoral bonds unconstitutional in May last year.
ADR Report Reveals Political Party Donations and Expenditures in 2023-24
According to information obtained by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) through an RTI request, the State Bank of India reported that in 2023-24, various political parties redeemed a total of ₹4507.56 crore in electoral bonds. Of this, 55.99%, or ₹2524.1361 crore, was spent by national parties.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) received ₹167.636 crore in donations and spent ₹127.283 crore. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) received ₹64.7798 crore and spent ₹43.18 crore. The National People’s Party (NPeP) received ₹0.2244 crore and spent ₹1.139 crore.
Key Expenditure Facts:
- Congress spent the most on elections, amounting to ₹619.67 crore. It spent ₹340.702 crore on administrative and other tasks.
- CPI(M) spent ₹56.29 crore on administrative tasks and ₹47.57 crore on party staff.
- Only Congress (₹58.56 crore) and CPI(M) (₹11.32 crore) reported earnings of ₹69.88 crore from coupon sales.
- The audit reports of CPI(M), Congress, and BJP were submitted late, ranging from 12 to 66 days behind schedule. The most common expenses among national parties were related to elections and administration.
Congress’s Spending Breakdown:
- Congress spent around ₹50 crore on the Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0.
- The party spent ₹207.94 crore on electronic advertisements and ₹43.73 crore on print advertisements.
- ₹62.65 crore was spent on planes and helicopters, while ₹238.55 crore was used to financially support candidates.
- The party also spent ₹28.03 crore on campaigning and ₹79.78 crore on social media.
- The audit report revealed that Congress spent ₹49.63 crore on the second Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2023-24, compared to ₹71.84 crore on the first yatra.
