The BJP continued to out-earn and out-spend all other national parties in 2020-2021, with 54% of the income of the eight national political parties going to the BJP, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said on Friday.
The ADR analysed the annual audited reports submitted to the Election Commission by the BJP, the Congress, the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Trinamool Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Nationalist Congress Party and the National Peoples’ Party. Out of the total declared income of ₹1,373.78 crore, the BJP had ₹752.33 crore, while the Congress was second with ₹285.76 crore, followed by the CPI(M) with ₹171.04 crore. The Trinamool Congress declared ₹74.41 crore in income, followed by the BSP (₹52.46 crore), the NCP (₹34.92 crore), the CPI (₹2.12 crore) and the National Peoples Party (₹69 lakh).
While the BJP spent 82% of its income, the Congress spent 73.14% of its earnings. The Trinamool Congress’s expenditure was 78.10% over its earnings.
Primary source
The primary source of income for the BJP was voluntary contributions, while the Congress got the most of its income from issuing coupons and the BSP from bank interest, the report said. The BJP spent the most of its total expenditure on “election/general propaganda” (₹421.01 crore); the Congress on “election expenditure”; and the NCP spent 84% of its total expenditure on “administration and general expenses”.
The BJP, the Trinamool Congress and the Congress declared income from electoral bonds worth ₹22.38 crore, ₹42 crore and ₹10.07 crore respectively.
The ADR report observed that all the parties submitted their audit reports past the deadline, ranging from 59 days (the BSP) late to 201 days (the BJP).
