Source: 
Author: 
Date: 
20.12.2016
City: 
New Delhi

 In 2015-16, BJP was the preferred party for those donating money to political outfits. In terms of donations higher than Rs 20,000, the saffron party pooled in three times more when compared with the aggregate declared by Congress, NCP, CPI, CPM and TMC.

A total of Rs 76.85 crore was declared by the BJP from 613 donations that were of Rs 20,000 or more, while the Congress declared receiving Rs 20.42 crore from 918 donations. The BSP declared that it did not receive any donations above Rs 20,000, as it has been declaring for the past ten years.

The figures collated by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) show that the total donations above Rs 20,000 declared by the national parties was Rs 102.02 crore from 1744 donors.

It is clear from the statistics that the BJP has gained favour amongst donors on account of being the ruling party at the Centre. The Congress, which is in the opposition at the Centre and left in power only in a handful of states, has not been able to attract much donation.

A comparison with the figures from the previous financial year, 2014-15, showed a decrease of 84 per cent in the donations, down by Rs 528.67 crore. It is worth noting that 2014-15 was the year when the Lok Sabha elections took place.

Also, interestingly, the donations received by the BJP increased by 156 per cent in 2014-15 compared to the previous financial year, while that of the Congress increased by 137 per cent for the same period.

Importantly, cash donations to the parties have come down since the Election Commission's notification on August 29, 2014, that no tax deduction shall be allowed on contributions made in cash by any person or company to a political party.

The national parties declared in 2014-15 that they received only Rs 89 lakh in cash, which formed 0.14 per cent of the total donations to the parties above Rs 20,000.

As many as 359 donations from corporate or business houses amounting to Rs 77.28 crore were made to the national parties, while 1322 individual donors donated Rs 23.41 crore, which is 22.95 per cent of the total donations, during 2015-16.

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