14 regional parties declared receiving donations through electoral bonds, says Association for Democratic Reforms report

New Delhi: Fourteen regional parties, including AAP, DMK and JD(U), have declared receiving donations through electoral bonds worth Rs 447.49 crore in 2019-20, and this constitutes 50.97 percent of their income, the Association for Democratic Reforms said. The total income of 42 regional parties analysed for the financial year 2019-20 was Rs 877.957 crore, according to a report by the poll rights group. The TRS reported having the highest income of Rs 130.46 crore, which forms 14.86 percent of the total income of all the parties analysed, it said. Shiv Sena had an income of Rs 111.403 crore or 12.69 percent and YSR-C Rs 92.739 crore or 10.56 percent of the total income of the 42 regional parties analysed in this report. The report said that only 14 of the 42 regional parties that were analysed declared donations through electoral bonds amounting to Rs 447.498 crore, which constitutes 50.97 percent of their total income. These 14 parties are, TRS, TDP, YSR-C, BJD, DMK, Shiv Sena, AAP, JD(U), SP, JDS, SAD, AIADMK, RJD and JMM, the report of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said. It said that out of 39 parties from the 42 political parties whose data is available for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 fiscals, 23 parties have shown an increase in their income from 2018-19 to 2019-20, while 16 parties have shown a decline in their income during this period. The total income of the 39 parties decreased from Rs 1087.206 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 874.467 crore in 2019-20, a dip of 19.57 percent or Rs 212.739 crore, the report said. The poll rights body said that there are 24 regional parties which declared a part of their income as remaining unspent for the financial year 2019-20 while 18 political parties spent more than the income collected during the year. The TRS has more than 83.76 percent of its total income remaining unspent while AIADMK and JJP have 67.82 percent and 64 percent , respectively, of their income remaining unspent for the 2019-20 fiscal. “TDP, BJD, DMK, SP, JDS, AJSU, JVM-P, INLD, PMK, MGP, GFP, SDF, MNF, AIFB, NPF, JKPDP, IPFT and MPC are the 18 regional parties that declared spending more than their income. BJD has declared spending the highest amount of Rs 95.78 cr or 106.01 percent more than its income,” the report said. The ADR said the 42 regional parties collected Rs 676.326 crore or 77.03 percent of their total income from voluntary contributions, including donations and contributions, and electoral bonds, for FY 2019-20. “Under voluntary contributions, political parties collected 50.97 percent or Rs 447.498 crore of their income from donations through electoral bonds while other donations and contributions amounted to Rs 228.828 cr or 26.06 percent for FY 2019-20,” the report said. It said that 12.96 percent or Rs 113.761 crore of the total income was generated through interest income and FDRs by the 42 regional parties during the financial year 2019-20.