Regional parties declare over Rs 200 crore in donations in FY 2022-23: ADR

The regional political parties declared donations worth over Rs 200 crore for the financial year 2022-23 with JMM, JJP, TDP and TMC reporting the highest increase in their income from donations, according to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The report highlighted the dominance of a few parties in the total donations received, significant delays in submissions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and gaps in disclosure of donor details.

Out of 57 regional parties analyzed, only 18 submitted their donation reports to the ECI within the stipulated time.

A total of 2,119 donations, declared by 28 regional parties, amounting to Rs 216.765 crore were analysed.

It is to be noted that people donating more than Rs 20,000 are required to reveal their identity.

Seventeen other parties delayed their submissions, with delays ranging from two to 164 days. Seven parties, including the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC), declared no donations for the year.

The report highlighted significant increases in donations for some parties compared to the previous financial year. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) saw a staggering 3,685 per cent rise, followed by the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) at 1,997 per cent, and the TDP at 1,795 per cent.

However, parties such as the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) reported sharp declines in donations, with drops of 99.1 per cent and 89.1 per cent, respectively.

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) topped the list of highest recipients, declaring Rs 154.03 crore from just 47 donations, followed by the YSR Congress Party with Rs 16 crore from five donors and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with Rs 11.92 crore.

Notably, five parties -- BRS, YSR Congress, TDP, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and Communist Party of India (CPI) -- accounted for 90.56 per cent of the total declared donations.

ADR raised concerns about transparency in donation reporting. Five regional parties declared Rs 96.2 lakh in donations without providing Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) of the donors, while address details for Rs 3.36 crore worth of donations were missing. Moreover, 204 donations totalling Rs 165.73 crore lacked complete information about the mode of contribution.

Cash donations accounted for a mere 0.099 per cent of the total contributions, amounting to Rs 21.45 lakh from 43 donations. Among states, Kerala led with Rs 9.09 lakh in cash donations, followed by West Bengal with Rs 5.91 lakh.

Corporate and business entities contributed Rs 169.2 crore, comprising 78 per cent of the total donations, while individual donors accounted for Rs 45.24 crore. BRS received Rs 138.97 crore from 40 corporate donors, the highest among regional parties.

Delhi emerged as the largest donor base, contributing Rs 107.09 crore, followed by Telangana with Rs 62.99 crore and Andhra Pradesh with Rs 8.39 crore.

The ADR report emphasised the need for political parties to ensure timely and complete disclosures of donations, including donor PAN details and accurate modes of contribution. It also called on the ECI to enforce stricter compliance with transparency norms to enhance public trust in the political funding process.