On November 19, 2014, the Election Commission of India wrote to all political parties stating they should submit details of their audited reports. The current government has lowered the limit for cash donations to political parties from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 2,000.
The Finance Bill, passed during the Budget session of the Parliament this year introduced the concept of electoral bonds, through which corporations can purchase bearer bonds from scheduled banks and transfer them to political parties. Elections watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms has published an analysis of the earnings, funds and expenses of regional parties.
There are 47 regional parties in India, of which 15 did not submit their audited files to the ECI. These include major parties such as the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the J&K National Conference, and the Indian National Lok Dal. Put together, 32 regional parties earned Rs. 221.48 crore in the financial year 2015-16.
The three highest earners were the DMK with Rs. 77.63 crore, the AIADMK with Rs. 54.94 crore and the TDP with 15.98 crore. The DMK alone forms 35 per cent of the total income of all 32 parties. The top three earners have the lion’s share, more than 67 per cent, of all earnings.
The biggest spenders were the JDU which reported expenses of Rs. 23.46 crore, the TDP which spent Rs. 13.12 crore and the AAP with Rs. 11.09 crore. 14 of the parties reported incurring expenditure that was more than total income.
As far as sources of funds are considered, 20 per cent of all income is reported to be from unknown sources, that is donations or contributions less than Rs, 20,000. In comparison, national parties collected 68 per cent of their total income from unknown sources.
Only the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the AIADMK have stated they did not receive any voluntary contributions at all. The TDP, on the other hand, which declared the highest income from donations above Rs. 20,000, has collected 6.88 crore from donations below Rs. 20,000.
The DMK’s report shows that its biggest source of income is a surplus from specific funds, comprising almost 94 per cent. The AIADMK claims that 70 per cent of its income is from the issuance of forms. Interestingly, it is the JD(U) that claims to have spent the most, Rs. 14.03 — almost 60 per cent of its expenditure — on election expenses.