BJP received Rs 2244 crore as election donation, Congress received Rs 289 crore as election donation
#News Bureau December 26,2024
BJP is again on top in terms of election donations. It has received Rs 2244 crore in the form of donations in 2023-24. This is more than three times the amount of the previous financial year. Congress is far behind in this matter and it received Rs 288.9 crore in 2023-24, while it was Rs 79.9 crore last year. Regional parties have also received election donations, but BSP and BJD have declared that they have not received any election donations.
Political parties received these election donations in the form of contributions of Rs 20,000 and above from individuals, trusts and corporate houses. According to the contribution report of both the parties for 2023-24, now available on the Election Commission website, BJP received a donation of Rs 723.6 crore from Prudent Electoral Trust. Congress also received a donation of Rs 156.4 crore from this.
That is, in 2023-24, almost a third of BJP’s and more than half of Congress’s donations came from Prudent Electoral Trust. TOI has reported that the biggest donors to Prudent in 2022-23 include Megha Engineering and Infra Limited, Serum Institute, Arcelor Mittal Group and Bharti Airtel.
According to the report, the total donations declared by BJP and Congress do not include the money received through electoral bonds. This is because according to the rules, political parties have to declare this detail only in their annual audit report, not in the contribution report. Let us tell you that in February 2024, the Supreme Court canceled the electoral bond scheme, making donations received directly or through electoral trusts the primary source of funding for political parties.
The BJP registered a 212% increase in its donations in 2023-24 compared to the previous year. However, it is being said that this is not unusual. This is because it was the year before the Lok Sabha elections. Usually, political parties push for donations before elections and its effect is visible on the receipt of donations.
The BJP received Rs 850 crore through the electoral trust route, of which Rs 723 crore came from Prudent, Rs 127 crore from Triumph Electoral Trust and Rs 17.2 lakh from Integrating Electoral Trust. The Congress received over Rs 156 crore through the trust route, though Prudent was the only donor.
In 2018-19, a year before the 2019 general election, the BJP had declared donations of Rs 742 crore and the Congress Rs 146.8 crore.
Some regional parties have voluntarily declared money received through electoral bonds in their contribution reports for 2023-24. Of these, the BRS received Rs 495.5 crore in bonds. The DMK received Rs 60 crore and the YSR Congress received Rs 121.5 crore from it. The JMM has declared a donation of Rs 11.5 crore through bonds and its other contributions were a little over Rs 64 lakh.
Prudent donated Rs 85 crore and Rs 62.5 crore to the BRS and YSR Congress respectively in 2023-24. Both lost power in the same year. The TDP received Rs 33 crore from Prudent. The DMK received Rs 8 crore from Triumph Electoral Trust and Jai Bharat Trust. Interestingly, the BJP has declared a donation of Rs 3 crore from Future Gaming and Hotel Services in 2023-24. Future Gaming was the biggest donor through electoral bonds, with the Trinamool Congress being the biggest beneficiary.
Among other national parties, AAP declared donations of Rs 11.1 crore in 2023-24, down from Rs 37.1 crore last year. CPM’s donations increased from Rs 6.1 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 7.6 crore in 2023-24. Meghalaya’s National People’s Party declared donations of Rs 14.8 lakh. BSP once again did not declare any donation above Rs 20,000. BJD also did not declare any donation for the financial year 2023-24. TDP received donations of more than Rs 100 crore in 2023-24. Samajwadi Party declared donations of Rs 46.7 lakh compared to Rs 33 crore last year.
