Hidden sources fund parties: Study

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The first ever study on the Income-Tax returns and statements filed by six major national political parties — Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Bahujan Samaj Party and Nationalist Congress Party — with the Election Commission, has brought forth startling revelations regarding the massive income of these parties from unknown sources.
According to the study conducted by the Association of Democratic Reform (ADR), an NGO, the total income of these six political parties between 2004-05 and 2011-12 was `4,895.96 crore, of which `3,674.50 crore came from unknown sources. Moreover, the funds received by the parties from registered sources such as sale of assets, membership fees, bank interest, sale of publications, party levy etc. formed only one sixth of their total income, which was `785.60 crore (16.05 per cent) from 2004-05 to 2011-12. The study has also revealed that 75.1 per cent of their total income came from unknown sources, largely in the form of black money.
The analysis of 31 elections held between 2008 and 2012 stated that the total amount received by these six parties at the party headquarters came to `967.41 crore, while an additional amount of `1,577.95 crore was earned at the state unit level. While, the Congress received cash worth `251.96 crore (90.38 per cent of its funds) at its party headquarters between 2008 and 2012, a meagre amount of `26.81 crore (9.62%) was received by cheque.
The study further revealed that the Congress party did not declare its income from the funds that it received at the party headquarters for as many as 14 elections out of 31, including the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress party’s funds declared at the party headquarters is `278.77 crore. However, the BSP received more funds than the
Congress with a total of `330.36 crore during the election period between 2008 and 2012.
The study also stated that the NCP received 83.78 per cent of its funds by cash and only 16.22 per cent by cheque/DD. A total of `2,545.36 crore was received at the central and state level within an average of 115 days between the date of announcement of the elections and the date of completion.
Meanwhile, the total income of the BJP from the funds received at the state unit level during the elections held in 2009 was `445.39 crore, whereas the party had declared its maximum income as `169.56 crore.
Following the revelations made by the study, the newly-launched Aam Admi Party has demanded the disclosure of the exact funds received by the political parties. Member of the national executive, Aam Aadmi Party, Manish Sisodia said, “These huge funds are a classic example of quid pro quo. These funds have been donated by those, who have reaped huge benefits from the coal block and 2G spectrum allotments.”
A press statement issued by the ADR states, “It is quite evident that a very large per cent of the income of political parties cannot be traced, hence the ADR recommends that full details of all donors should be made available for public scrutiny under the RTI.”